WASHINGTON (AP) — President Trump is on his way to France to sit down with a group of world leaders who share at least one thing in common: every one of them has either been on the receiving end of Trump’s criticism or has had to navigate an uncomfortable moment with the U.S. president.
Some G7 leaders have drawn Trump’s anger for questioning his decision to go to war with Iran. Others have clashed with him over trade disputes. And the leaders of Japan and Germany have each found themselves in awkward situations after Trump made offhand remarks touching on painful chapters in their nations’ pasts.
Over three days in the French Alps, the leaders are expected to tackle the recently reached deal aimed at bringing the Iran conflict to a close, China’s trade practices, and Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. The summit also gives everyone a chance to gauge where they stand with a U.S. president who appears increasingly inclined to act alone on major world issues.
One analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Max Bergmann, compared the summit atmosphere to a holiday family dinner where “there’s an uncle you don’t quite like.”
“And no one wants to have a confrontation, even if things get quite passive-aggressive at times,” Bergmann said. “But, you know, there’s always the possibility that things might snap, and it might get rather dramatic.”
Here is a closer look at some of the more notable clashes and uncomfortable exchanges between Trump and the leaders he will be meeting with in France.
Trump has taken aim at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the United Kingdom’s reluctance to support U.S. military strikes against Iran, the country’s immigration policies, and its approach to renewable energy.
His most pointed attack on Starmer came after the Labour leader initially refused to allow U.S. military aircraft to use a British base in the Indian Ocean for operations against Iran. Trump said of Starmer, “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with,” drawing an unfavorable comparison to Britain’s celebrated wartime leader.
Trump also lashed out at Starmer in the early days of the Iran conflict after the United Kingdom placed the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales on heightened readiness for a possible Middle East deployment.
“We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!” Trump posted on social media.
Trump has long complained about trade imbalances with Canada, repeatedly floats the idea of annexing Canada as the “51st state,” and has taken to calling Prime Minister Mark Carney “governor.”
His harshest words toward Canada’s leader came after Carney, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, spoke out against powerful nations using coercion against smaller ones — without naming Trump directly.
Trump fired back during his own remarks at the same event. “Canada lives because of the United States,” he said. “Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”
For his part, Carney has tried to stay composed in the face of Trump’s jabs. Earlier this month, the prime minister told reporters that Trump was an “exceptionally active user of social media” and said he had no intention of responding to every post.
At an Easter lunch held at the White House in April, Trump criticized France and other NATO members for not supporting U.S. and Israeli military action against Iran. In the middle of that conversation, Trump brought up a viral video from last year that appeared to show French President Macron’s wife, Brigitte, pushing the French leader’s face away as the couple stepped off a plane during a visit to Vietnam.
Trump told those in attendance that Brigitte treats Macron “extremely badly” and joked that the French president was “still recovering from the right to the jaw.”
Macron later told reporters that he and his wife had simply been joking around and called Trump’s comments “neither elegant nor appropriate.”
Trump also frequently entertains crowds by recounting trade conversations he says he has had with Macron, impersonating the French president’s responses in an exaggerated accent. In Trump’s version of events, Macron always backs down quickly.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was once among Trump’s favorites on the world stage. In October, when world leaders gathered in Egypt for a summit on post-war Gaza, Trump lavished praise on the conservative premier, calling her “a very successful, very successful politician” and “beautiful.”
That goodwill has since evaporated. Italy declined to support the U.S. war effort against Iran, and Meloni publicly rebuked Trump for his public dispute with Pope Leo XIV over the conflict.
In remarks to Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera, Trump said of Meloni, “Do people like her? I can’t believe it.” He added: “I thought she had courage. I was wrong.”
Trump has not directed any direct criticism at Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi since she took office in October. However, comments he made during her first visit to the White House put her in an awkward spot.
When a Japanese reporter asked why the U.S. had not warned its allies in Europe and Asia before launching strikes on Iran, Trump casually brought up Pearl Harbor to explain his reasoning.
“Who knows better about surprise than Japan?” Trump said, with Takaichi standing beside him. “Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor, OK?”
The remark caught many in Japan off guard. American presidents have long avoided blunt references to Japan’s surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Hawaii, which drew the United States into World War II, instead choosing to emphasize the strong alliance the two countries have built since the war. Takaichi, a conservative hardliner, received both praise and criticism back home for not responding to Trump’s comment, instead simply glancing toward her ministers who were seated nearby.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz triggered Trump’s anger in April when he said the United States was being “humiliated” by Iran and argued that the U.S. had entered the war without a clear strategy, making it harder to bring the conflict to an end.
Trump responded on social media the next day, telling Merz he “should spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine” and “fixing his broken Country, especially Immigration and Energy.”
Shortly after, the Pentagon announced it would withdraw roughly 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, and Trump suggested he might cut the American military presence there “a lot further.”
There was also an awkward exchange between Trump and Merz during a White House visit the chancellor made last year, on the eve of the D-Day anniversary — the date marking the Allied landings that began the liberation of Western Europe, the defeat of Nazi Germany, and the end of World War II in Europe.
Merz referenced the anniversary while arguing that the U.S. was once again positioned to help resolve a high-stakes conflict in Europe — Russia’s war against Ukraine — when Trump interrupted to say that D-Day was “not a pleasant day for you.”
Merz calmly reminded Trump that the day also marked the beginning of “the liberation of my country from Nazi dictatorship.”
Trump acknowledged that the chancellor had made a fair point.
