2019-08-26 Bloomberg Businessweek

(Frankie) #1
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TRUMP:

NICHOLAS

KAMM/AFP/GETTY

IMAGES.

LEADERS:

KIM

KYUNG-HOON/BLOOMBERG

slightfromPrimeMinisterJustinTrudeau.Despite
their valiant effort, the Sherpas at this year’s G-20
failed to craft language that all of the assembled lead-
ers could agree to and had to insert a special section
for the U.S. position on climate change.
If the era of agreement is over, what will the
future look like? French President Emmanuel
Macron has been grappling with that question as
his country prepares to host the G-7 in Biarritz. “I
have battled at the G-20 and ended up at 19,” he said
at the end of the G-20, “and I have battled at the G-7
to be all seven together and then have the U.S. pull
out.” Desperate to avoid a repeat of the summit in
Canada, Macron promised to “innovate,” floating the
idea of a series of mini-communiqués on individual
issues such as climate change, signed only by those
leaders who agree with one another. “We need to
have a reflection on our formats,” he said. “Accept
that on some subjects, there’s a member of the club
who may not sign. We cannot do miracles.”

These are hardlyabstract concerns. While
Macron and others have framed their search for
solutions in terms of improved protocol, disagree-
ments that begin at international meetings have a
way of rippling into far less rarefied circles, and vice
versa. Trump’s pique at Trudeau concerned the lat-
ter’s attempt to retaliate against tariffs the U.S. had
applied to Canadian steel and aluminum weeks
before. The Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate
accord were both reached through carefully orches-
trated international discussions—and they were both
shredded single-handedly by Trump.
Yet even on the question of how to achieve
unity, there’s disagreement. According to a
high-ranking German official, Chancellor Angela
Merkel also left the Osaka G-20 summit frustrated
that once again Trump had hijacked a major gath-
ering of world leaders. In her view, these events
were turning into opportunities for the U.S. pres-
ident to put on a show and boost his ego. But

POLITICS BloombergBusinessweek August26, 2019

e Art of No Deal


 World leaders pose
for a G-20 family photo
in Osaka on June 28
Free download pdf