President Trump said Saturday that he will postpone until the fall a meeting of Group of 7 he had planned to hold next month at the White House despite the ongoing pandemic. And he said he plans to invite Russia, Australia, South Korea, and India as he again advocated for the group's expansion, reports the AP. Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he returned to Washington from Florida that he feels the current makeup of the group is “very outdated" and doesn't properly represent "what’s going on in the world.” He said he had not yet set a new date for the meeting, but thought the gathering could take place in September, around the time of the annual UN meeting in New York, or perhaps after the US election in November. A White House rep said that Trump wanted to bring in some of the country's traditional allies and those impacted by the coronavirus to discuss the future of China.
The surprise announcement came after German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office said Saturday that she would not attend the meeting unless the course of the coronavirus had changed by then. The leaders of the world’s major economies were slated to meet in June at Camp David, but the coronavirus outbreak hobbled those plans. Trump announced in March he was canceling the summit because of the pandemic and that the leaders would confer by video conference instead. But Trump then switched course, saying a week ago that he was again planning to host an in-person meeting. "Now that our Country is ‘Transitioning back to Greatness’, I am considering rescheduling the G-7, on the same or similar date, in Washington, D.C., at the legendary Camp David," Trump tweeted. "The other members are also beginning their COMEBACK. It would be a great sign to all - normalization!"
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