Stephan: Here are a series of seemingly unrelated stories, except I do not think they are unconnected.
I have thought from the beginning of his presidency that Trump was under some obligation to Russia, or more specifically Russians. Based on what I have read I think this is probably the billionaire oligarchs of Russia in Putin's circle, who loaned him hundreds of millions of dollars through the Deutsche Bank. That's why Trump is so desperate to keep his financial records from the bank secret.
As Trump has made evident in a hundred ways he cares nothing for anyone's interests but his own. He doesn't understand or care about the geopolitical interests of the United States. His relationships with Putin are not about the nation's interests but his own. He knew the Russians were hacking our elections, but it was to advance his interests, the country as a country was not a consideration.
Trump is servicing Russia's interests by bringing Putin back into the G-7. The other nations he wants to include are just his usual distraction moves. The point of the drill in my opinion, is restoring Russia's status, and protecting his debt.
Donald Trump has been forced to cancel a planned face-to-face summit of G7 leaders in June and now wants to host an expanded meeting in September dedicated to countering China, to which Vladimir Putin would be invited.
Trump revealed on Saturday that he had cancelled the June meeting, which he had billed as a symbol of the US “transitioning back to greatness”, after the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, told him in a phone call that she saw the summit in Washington DC as a health risk. Hundreds of security staff, journalists and officials also attend the two-day summits.
Reports suggest the call between Merkel and Trump on Thursday was stormy, ranging over German plans for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Hong Kong, and the potential health risks of a face-to-face summit.
It is amazing to read the contrast between this report from a British point of view and that of the new York Times.