46th G7 summit

The choice of the summit's location was controversial. The Secret Service initially vetted ten sites for the summit and reduced that list to four (in Hawaii, Utah, California, and North Carolina).{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-doral-resort-was-a-last-minute-addition-in-search-for-g-7-site-newly-released-email-shows/2019/11/15/f39056a0-07fa-11ea-8ac0-0810ed197c7e_story.html|title=Trump's Doral resort was a last-minute addition in search for G-7 site, newly released email shows|date=2019-11-15|author1=Fahrenthold, David A.|author2=Dawsey, Josh|newspaper=The Washington Post|df=mdy-all}} They then eliminated the California and North Carolina sites, and added, at President Donald Trump's direction, the option of hosting at Trump National Doral in Miami.{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-doral-g7-summit-next-year-trump-national-miami-white-house-says-today-dismissing-concerns-over-ethics-optics/ |title=White House says Trump property will host next G-7 summit, dismissing concerns over ethics and optics |date=17 October 2019 |work=CBS News|access-date=2019-10-21|df=mdy-all}}

On October 17, 2019, Trump's acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney announced the summit would be held at the Trump National Doral, dismissing concerns about potential conflict of interests and the prospect of a president personally profiting from an official event.{{cite web |title=Serial No. 116-69 (House Hearing) - Markup Of: H. Res. 755, Articles of Impeachment Against President Donald J. Trump Volume VII |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CHRG-116hhrg39407/CHRG-116hhrg39407 |website=GovInfo.gov |publisher=U.S. Government Publishing Office |access-date=1 July 2023 |pages=64–78 |date=11 December 2019 |quote=So we're going to talk about the G7....We're going to announce today that we're going to do the 46th G7 Summit on June 10th through June 12th at the Trump National Doral facility in Miami, Florida.}} Trump initially touted the benefits of using his resort for the conference and called the selection "something very good for our Country" but, two days later, after bipartisan criticism, announced that the G7 summit would no longer be held at Doral, blaming "Media & Democrat Crazed and Irrational Hostility" on his Twitter account.{{cite web| url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-says-his-florida-doral-resort-will-no-longer-host-n1069081| title=Trump says his Florida Doral resort will no longer host G-7 summit| first=Dennis| last=Romero|work=NBC News| date=19 October 2019|df=mdy-all}}

At the time of the announcement, Trump was the target of two lawsuits—D.C. and Maryland v. Trump and CREW v. Trump—alleging that he was violating the US Constitution's foreign and domestic emoluments clauses because of payments received from the Saudi government and other foreign governments for stays at his Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.{{cite magazine |author1=Law, Tara |title=President Trump Backs Down on Hosting G7 Meeting at His Florida Doral Resort |url=https://time.com/5705628/donald-trump-g7-doral-resort/ |magazine=Time |date=20 October 2019|df=mdy-all}}{{cite news|last=LaFraniere|first=Sharon|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/13/us/politics/trump-emoluments-lawsuit.html|title=U.S. Appeals Court Reinstates Emoluments Case Against Trump|work=The New York Times|date=September 13, 2019|access-date=November 17, 2019|df=mdy-all}} Legal experts debated whether hosting the G7 at a Trump-owned property would violate the Constitution's emoluments clauses.{{cite news|title=Was Trump's plan to host the G7 at his golf course unconstitutional?|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/17/politics/trump-doral-g7-conference-emoluments/index.html|author1=Wolf, Zachary B.|publisher=CNN|date=October 21, 2019|access-date=November 17, 2019}}

File:Camp David 1959.jpg

On December 3, 2019, it was announced that the summit would be held at Camp David, the country retreat of the President of the United States.{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/03/politics/trump-g7-camp-david/index.html|title=Trump announces G7 to be hosted at Camp David after Doral reversal|author=Malloy, Allie|work=CNN|access-date=2019-12-13|df=dmy-all}} The same venue hosted the group's 38th summit in 2012.{{Cite web|url=https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/03/05/g8-summit-moved-to-camp-david/|title=White House Moves G8 Summit From Chicago To Camp David|website=CBS Chicago|date=2012-03-05|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-13|df=mdy-all}}

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Trump canceled the G7 at Camp David and said that the meeting would be conducted by video conference,{{Cite web|url=https://business.financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/trump-cancels-g7-at-camp-david-over-coronavirus-to-hold-videoconference-instead|title=Trump cancels G7 at Camp David over coronavirus, to hold videoconference instead |last=Mason|first=Jeff|date=2020-03-19|language=en-CA|access-date=2020-03-19| website=financialpost.com}} as in the case of a G7 session held on 16 April 2020.[https://newsroom.consilium.europa.eu/events/20200416-president-michel-participates-in-the-g7-leaders-video-conference-on-covid-19/video-conference-with-g7-leaders-roundtable-16-04-20-brussels-16-04-20/103272 Video conference with G7 leaders Roundtable (16/04/20, Brussels)], European Commission. Later, however, Trump suggested that the G7 could be held in person at the White House or Camp David.[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52865201 Trump delays 'outdated' G7 leaders' summit], BBC News (May 31, 2020).[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/trump-says-g7-summit-could-happen-in-person-at-camp-david/articleshow/75859491.cms Trump says G7 summit could happen in person at Camp David], Agence France-Presse (May 21, 2020). In late May 2020, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declined Trump's invitation to attend a G7 summit in late June, citing the ongoing pandemic.Matthew Karnitschnig, David M. Herszenhorn, Jacopo Barigazzi and Andrew Gray, [https://www.politico.eu/article/angela-merkel-rebuffs-donald-trump-invitation-to-g7-summit/ Merkel rebuffs Trump invitation to G7 summit], Politico.EU (May 29, 2020). French President Emmanuel Macron, who is closely aligned with Merkel, made a phone call to Trump stating that the entire G7 should be present in person at a summit.Kevin Liptak, [https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/31/politics/g7-trump-economic-summit-postponed/index.html Inside Trump's decision to delay the G7 meeting], CNN (May 31, 2020). British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also suggested that he favored an in-person gathering. On May 30, 2020, Trump delayed the summit until at least September 2020.

In August 2020, Trump said that he wanted to delay the summit until after the November 2020 election.Orion Rummler, [https://www.axios.com/trump-g7-summit-white-house-2e73e817-f0ce-4f23-8121-5dc151f65d7d.html Trump says G7 summit will be delayed until after the election], Axios (August 10, 2020).{{cite news |date=August 11, 2020 |title=Trump says he is inclined to host G7 meeting after the November 3 election |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-g7/trump-says-he-is-inclined-to-host-g7-meeting-after-the-november-3-election-idUSKCN2562Q5 |work=Reuters |access-date=August 12, 2020 }} No summit took place subsequently.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-g7-summit-usa/trump-has-made-no-plans-to-host-g7-summit-diplomatic-sources-idUSKBN27Y337 |title=Trump has made no plans to host G7 summit: diplomatic sources |publisher=Reuters |author1=Andrea Shalal |author2=Jeff Mason |date=18 November 2020 |access-date=18 January 2021}}

Trump named India, Australia, Brazil, South Korea, and Russia as potential invitees to the summit, and said "I don't feel that as a G7 it properly represents what's going on in the world. It's a very outdated group of countries." Trump's aides said that China would be a subject of G7+ discussions, but not a part of it,Chidanand Rajghatta, [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/g-haan-trump-wants-to-expand-g7-to-g10/11-to-include-india/articleshow/76116297.cms G7 Countries: Donald Trump wants to expand G7 to G10/11 to Include India], Times News Network (Times of India (May 31, 2020). and said that Trump intended to use the summit to build an anti-China bloc.

In calls with Trump in early June 2020, invitations to join the summit were accepted by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison,[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-g7-summit-usa-australia/australian-pm-accepts-g7-invitation-during-call-with-trump-idUSKBN2390KQ Australian PM accepts G7 invitation during call with Trump], Reuters (June 2, 2020). Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro,{{Cite web|date=2020-06-04|title=Araújo comenta 'entrada do Brasil num G7 reconfigurado'|url=https://renovamidia.com.br/araujo-comenta-entrada-do-brasil-num-g7-reconfigurado/|access-date=2020-11-29|website=RENOVA Mídia|language=pt-BR|archive-date=2020-09-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923190212/https://renovamidia.com.br/araujo-comenta-entrada-do-brasil-num-g7-reconfigurado/|url-status=dead}} South Korean President Moon Jae-in,[https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2020/06/02/national/politics/Moon-Jaein-Trump-Group-of-Seven/20200602171200232.html Moon accepts Trump's offer to join expanded G7], Korea JoongAng Daily (June 2, 2020). and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.[https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/pm-modi-accepts-trump-invite-for-g-7-summit-93504 PM Modi accepts Trump invite for G-7 summit], Tribune News Service (June 2, 2020).

On June 2, 2020, Trump initiated a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin offering to invite him to the G7 meeting. However, Trump's proposal to invite Putin was staunchly opposed by the UK and Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Russia's "continued disrespect and flaunting of international rules and norms is why it remains outside of the G7 and why it will continue to remain out" and a spokesman for the British government said that Russia should not be readmitted to the group "unless it ceases aggressive and destabilizing activity that threatens the safety of UK citizens and the collective security of our allies."Julian Borger, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/01/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-g7-call Donald Trump offers to invite Vladimir Putin to expanded G7 summit], The Guardian (June 1, 2020).

The European Union agreed that Russia should not be readmitted to the G7, with EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, explaining that Trump did not have the unilateral power to change the permanent membership of the G7 or its scope: "The prerogative of the G7 chair, in this case the United States, is to issue guest invitations -- guest invitations reflect the host's priorities. But changing membership, changing the format on a permanent basis, is not a prerogative of the G7 chair."[https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/donald-trump-does-not-have-the-power-to-change-g7-format-eu/story-H0nks502ZnpyfxG3zkbUJK.html Donald Trump does not have the power to change G7 format: EU], Agence France-Presse (June 2, 2020).

On August 10, 2020, Trump said that he had not decided whether to invite Putin, but this eventually became a moot point as the summit did not proceed.

The planned 46th G7 summit would have been the final summit for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. However, it was ultimately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Abe handed over power to Yoshihide Suga on September 16, 2020 and Conte handed over power to Mario Draghi on February 13, 2021.

Participants would have included the leaders of the G7 member states as well as representatives of the European Union. The President of the European Commission has been a permanently welcome participant, not a nation member per se, at all meetings and decision-making since 1981.

Trump did not take part in the climate change mitigation discussions during the 44th meetings held in Canada or the 45th meetings held in France.{{cite web |last1=Teirstein |first1=Zoya |title=Donald 'I'm an environmentalist' Trump skips G7 climate meeting |url=https://grist.org/article/donald-im-an-environmentalist-trump-skips-g7-climate-meeting/ |date=26 August 2019|work=Grist|access-date=November 17, 2019|df=mdy-all}} When the administration announced that the 46th meetings were to be held at the Trump property in Florida, Trump's acting White House Chief of Staff Mulvaney said, "climate change will not be on the agenda."{{cite web |last1=Holden |first1=Emily |title=Climate crisis will not be discussed at G7 next year, says Trump official |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/17/g7-summit-2020-trump-climate-crisis|date=17 October 2019 |work=The Guardian|access-date=17 November 2019|df=mdy-all}}

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{{G8 summits}}

{{First presidency of Donald Trump}}

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Category:2020 conferences

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2020

Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on politics

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G7 summit 2020

G7 summit 2020

G7 summit 2020