Trudeau kept ‘back pocket’ G7 summit statement to guard against Trump
Aug 5, 2019 | 10:49 AM
OTTAWA — The top Canadian organizer at last year’s stormy G7 summit says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau kept a “back pocket” closing statement ready in case U.S. President Donald Trump blocked the usual united communique.
Sen. Peter Boehm was the senior public servant who organized the Canadian-hosted G7 leaders’ meeting at Charlevoix, Que.
He describes the unprecedented efforts to manage Trump’s potential disruption at the meeting in an article for a French foreign policy journal.
Boehm says Trudeau agreed to what amounted to a Plan B, a “chair’s summary” that the prime minister could issue if deep differences with the Americans blocked consensus.
