Trump is all about selling his brand and the G7 summit was proof of that

US president’s main priorities are himself and his supporter base, the international community comes a distant second, Chris Stevenson writes

The American leader at the meeting in France yesterday (AP)

Donald Trump has a patchy record when it comes to international gatherings. As likely to cause an incident as anyone, his comments have often got him into trouble with other attendees or the press.

The latest G7 meeting in France was no different. Trump will always seek to push his “America First” agenda and he does not mind whose toes he steps on to do so. With the White House claiming that Trump had meetings with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the president missed a working session on climate change (which Merkel and Modi both attended).

When asked about climate change scepticism, which the president has expressed on numerous occasions, Trump said that he was an “environmentalist” who wanted the “cleanest” air and water for the US. However he also wants America to hold on to its “tremendous wealth”.