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Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

“Looking forward to straightening out unfair Trade Deals with the G-7 countries,” Trump tweeted early Friday. “If it doesn’t happen, we come out even better.”

As he departed Washington on Friday morning, Trump called for Russia to be reinstated in the Group of Seven.

Trump told reporters: “Russia should be in the meeting, should be a part of it.”

Russia was ousted from the elite group in 2014 as punishment for President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea and its support for pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. The suspension was supported by the other members of the group, including the U.S., Canada, Japan and four European nations.

Trump’s remark comes as special counsel Robert Mueller investigates whether Trump associates colluded with Russia in a bid to sway the 2016 presidential election in Trump’s favour.

Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

The U.S. president also singled out tariffs on U.S. dairy products in yet another scathing tweet directed at Canada just before the summit begins.

At a joint press conference on Thursday, Macron stressed: “A trade war doesn’t spare anyone. It will start first of all to hurt U.S. workers.” Trudeau said: “We are going to defend our industries and our workers.”

Trudeau, for his part, said Trump’s action would hurt American workers as well as Canadians.

“If I can get the president to actually realize that what he’s doing is counterproductive for his own goals as well, perhaps we can move forward in a smarter way,” Trudeau said.