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”.

“I think I know more about the environment than most people,” he said. “I want clean air. I want clean water. I want a wealthy country. I want a spectacular country with jobs, with pensions and so many things and that’s what we’re getting.”

In truth Trump will always be a salesman – he has to sell his vision back to the US electorate, particularly with a presidential term to win next year, and dealing with the international community comes a distant second.

For parts of the G7, Trump was an actual salesman, rather than a more metaphorical one. He was hawking his vision of the ideal location for the next G7 – or G8 if he gets his way to readmit Russia – summit, Miami. The Doral golf resort is the ideal place the president said – close to the airport, plenty of hotel rooms, separate buildings for every delegation, even top facilities for the media. The one catch? Trump owns the place.

Government ethics watchdogs have consistently warned about the conflict of interest caused by earning money from the presidency and hosting foreign leaders at his properties. But yesterday, Trump spoke as if the idea of making money off the summit never entered his mind. In fact, he said, other people were pushing Doral as a venue – not just him.

“They went to places all over the country and they came back and they said, ‘This is where we’d like to be,’” Trump said of the secret service. “It’s not about me. It’s about getting the right location.”

“I’m not going to make any money,” he added. “I don’t want to make money. I don’t care about making money.”

Ethically dubious or not, Trump has the same plan at every summit. Sell his brand, whether that be his policies or his properties. That will probably never change.