Donald Trump says Russia should not have been booted from G7

The US President warned Iran to ‘make a deal’, as Anthony Albanese and other world leaders prepare for high-stakes meetings with him in Canada.

President Donald Trump at the official welcome of the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada. Picture: AP

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Donald Trump has declared himself as a “tariff person”, says Russia should never have been booted from the G7 and warned Iran to “make a deal”, as Anthony Albanese and other world leaders prepare for high-stakes meetings with the US President.

Mr Trump – who met Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the G7 summit in Kananaskis on Tuesday (AEST) – has immediately made his presence felt in Canada after flying in overnight for a two-day visit stacked with back-to-back meetings.

In his first public remarks since arriving at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, Mr Trump delivered a wide-ranging take on global affairs.

Mr Trump, who wore a Canada-US pin on his suit jacket after previously quipping that Canada should be the 51st state of the US, suggested he could make a deal with Mr Carney but reiterated that he was a “tariff person”.

The billionaire has flagged that he could make trade deals during the G7 summit.

The US President has brought with him a high-powered delegation, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, chief-of-staff Susie Wiles, trade representative Jamieson Greer, deputy chief-of-staff Stephen Miller and National Economics Council director Kevin Hassett.

In the first G7 leaders’ summit meeting, which does not involve guest leaders including Mr Albanese, Mr Trump was sat next to Mr Carney and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Mr Trump will take part in the G7 family photograph later on Tuesday.

Mr Trump’s meeting with Mr Albanese on Wednesday (AEST) is understood to be the US President’s second last before departing the summit, with his final meeting slated with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The schedule is expected to be tight as world leaders fly out of Canada. The meeting between Mr Albanese and Mr Trump is scheduled to run for at least 20-minutes and is expected to focus on the AUKUS deal, tariffs, critical minerals, China in the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East war.

Amid efforts by Mr Albanese, Australia’s Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd and other senior government figures to broker a tariff exemption deal with Mr Trump, The Australian understands it is not likely that an immediate deal will be landed on Wednesday. If the meeting goes well, a deal could be progressed before a potential second meeting between the pair at the White House that coincides with Mr Albanese’s expected attendance at the UN leaders’ summit in September.

President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the G7. Picture: AP

After his meeting with Mr Carney, Mr Trump told the Canadian Prime Minister that “we have different concepts … I have a tariff concept, Mark has a different concept which is something that some people like but we’re going to see if we can get to the bottom of it today”.

“I’m a tariff person. I’ve always been a tariff person. It’s simple, it’s easy, it’s precise and it just goes very quickly. I think Mark has a more complex idea but I think also very good. So, we’re going to look at both and we’re going to come out with something, hopefully,” Mr Trump said.

With talks between G7 leaders and guest leaders dominated by the Israel-Iran war, Mr Trump revealed that Iranian officials had reached out in recent days to de-escalate the conflict.

“They’d like to talk, but they should have done that before. I had 60 days, and they had 60 days. On the 61st day, I said, ‘we don’t have a deal’,” Mr Trump said.

“They have to make a deal, and it’s painful for both parties. But I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it’s too late.”

Mr Trump told reporters he didn’t want to talk about the prospect of the US being dragged into the Middle East war.

As Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa rapidly expand their rival BRICS organisation to challenge traditional power summits like the G7, Mr Trump said Vladimir Putin shouldn’t have been expelled and said it wouldn’t be a “bad idea” for China to join the grouping.

Russia was axed from the G7 in 2014 by Barack Obama and other G7 leaders when Mr Putin annexed Crimea.

Mr Trump said it was a “very big mistake” to evict Russia.

“You wouldn’t have that war. You know you have your enemy at the table, I don’t even consider, he wasn’t really an enemy at that time. There was no concept – if I were president this war would have never happened.”

“Putin speaks to me, he doesn’t speak to anybody else. He doesn’t want to talk, because he was very insulted when he got thrown out of the G8. As I would be, as you would be, as anybody would be. It was very insulting.”

When directly asked if Putin should be invited back to G7, Trump replied: “I’m not going to say he should at this point, because too much water’s gone over the dam, maybe. But it was a big mistake.”