Trump: I Have 'Second Thoughts About Everything'

But White House says he has no regrets about trade war
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 25, 2019 7:13 AM CDT
White House: Trump's 'Regret' Is Not Jacking China Tariffs Higher
US President Donald Trump, left, is greeted by the President of France Emmanuel Macron as he arrives to the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019.   (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

While America was sleeping, the Group of Seven summit in France was continuing down its head-spinning trajectory, with matters like an escalating trade war between planet Earth's two biggest economic powers, talks with rogue aspiring nuclear powers, and a no-deal Brexit taking up much of the oxygen. A look around, per the AP:

  • White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham says President Trump was "greatly misinterpreted" earlier Sunday when asked if he had any second thoughts about escalating the trade war with China. Trump responded to reporters, "Yeah. For sure," adding he has "second thoughts about everything." But Grisham says "President Trump responded in the affirmative—because he regrets not raising the tariffs higher."

  • Trump said that he'll "probably have one more" meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to discuss Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. North Korea said Sunday that Kim supervised a test-firing of a "newly developed super-large multiple rocket launcher"—another demonstration of its expanding weapons arsenal.
  • Trump and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau are discussing the new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement on the G7 sidelines. Trump says the trade relationship between the US and Canada will be significantly expanded when USMCA is completed, adding, "I think it's a very special agreement."
  • Trump is disputing French statements that the G7 agreed to empower President Emmanuel Macron to communicate on its behalf with Iran. Asked if he signed onto the message, Trump told reporters, "I haven't discussed that."
  • Trump says he has confidence in new British PM Boris Johnson to carry out Brexit talks with the European Union. Speaking to reporters during their first meeting since Johnson's elevation to the post, Trump said: "He needs no advice. He's the right man for the job." Trump promised that he and Johnson would work out "a very big trade deal" between their two nations once the United Kingdom leaves the EU.
  • Trump says it's "possible" he will invite Russia to rejoin the annual G7 meeting when he hosts it next year. Russia was a member of what was then the Group of Eight, but was expelled in 2014 over its invasion of Ukraine.
(More Group of Seven stories.)

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