Donald Trump: ‘Appropriate’ for Russia to return to G7

US president suggested that Obama had pushed country out of Group of Seven because he did not like being ‘outsmarted’ by Putin

Trump’s comments come after repeated clashes with other G7 leaders

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US President Donald Trump at a meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday. Photo: AP

Published: 5:06am, 21 Aug 2019Updated: 7:27pm, 21 Aug 2019

This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Shawna Chen on politico.com on August 20, 2019.

Russia should be part of the Group of Seven again, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, suggesting that President Barack Obama pushed the country out because he did not like that President Vladimir Putin had “outsmarted” him.

Russia was suspended from what was then known as the G8 – representing the world’s most industrialised and developed economies – in 2014 after it illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine, but both Putin and Trump have downplayed G7 leaders’ criticisms of Russia.

“I’ve gone to numerous G7 meetings, and I guess … because Putin outsmarted him, President Obama thought it wasn’t a good thing to have Russia in,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday at the White House. “He wanted Russia out, but I think it’s much more appropriate to have Russia in and it should be the G8.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) shakes hands with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka in June. Photo: EPA-EFE

It was not clear what specifically Trump was referring to in his mention of Obama. He added that he would support a motion to re-include Russia.