Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn, the president also discussed international tensions and EPA chief Scott Pruitt

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old





Donald Trump sounded off on presidential pardons, international tensions over trade and his embattled environmental chief, Scott Pruitt, on Friday as he departed Washington for what is likely to be a combative G7 summit in Canada.

Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn, the freewheeling president also said he would like to meet with the NFL athletes who he has sharply criticized for kneeling during the national anthem.

Trump says he'd invite Kim Jong-un to White House 'if summit goes well' Read more

“I’m going to ask them to recommend to me people who were unfairly treated,” Trump said.

Trump has previously called for the predominantly black athletes who take a knee during the national anthem to be fired, prompting a rules change from the NFL that sought to penalize teams whose players did not stand. Trump’s comments about the movement, which was designed to draw attention to police brutality and criminal justice, have prompted several championship players to boycott invitations from the White House.



Trump, who recently commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, a first-time non-violent drug offender, also suggested he was open to revisiting other cases of those who had been wronged by the criminal justice system.



The president said he was considering a posthumous pardon of the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, who was convicted in 1967 of evading the draft for the Vietnam war. But Ali’s conviction was already overturned by the supreme court.



He also defended his aggressive stance toward US trading partners, stating: “Right now, we are not going to live with the deals the way they are.”

“European Union treats us very unfairly. Canada, very unfairly. Mexico, very unfairly,” he said. “With that being said, I think we’ll probably very easily make a deal.”

Trump has faced outward pushback from foreign leaders, including the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and French president, Emmanuel Macron, over his decision to impose steel and aluminum tariffs on a number of America’s closest western allies.

On Thursday, Macron signaled Trump’s arrival at the G7 would be met with acrimony, tweeting: “The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be.”

Trump responded hours later with a tweet of his own, refusing to back down from a trade policy that has been criticized by members of his own party in Washington.

“Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create nonmonetary barriers,” Trump tweeted. “The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow.”

In another extraordinary break from US allies, Trump on Friday called for Russia to be reinstated to the G7 club of world leaders. Russia was suspended from the former G8 in 2014 after its annexation of Crimea.

“Why are we having the meeting without Russia being in the meeting?” Trump said of the summit, which is being held in Charlevoix, Canada.

“Russia should be in this meeting … They should let Russia come back in, because we should have Russia at the negotiating table.”

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The White House has said Trump will depart the G7 summit early and instead head to Singapore to begin preparations for a high-profile summit with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, on 12 June.

He also confirmed that first lady, Melania Trump, who has been largely absent from the public eye in recent weeks, will not be accompanying him on his trips to Canada and Singapore. Trump attributed his wife’s absence to a recent procedure she underwent for a benign kidney problem.

“She wanted to go. Can’t fly for one month, the doctors say,” Trump said. “She had a big operation. That was close to a four-hour operation. She’s doing great.”

Trump also addressed the mounting controversy over a series of ethics violations by Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Scott Pruitt is doing a great job within the walls of the EPA. I mean, we’re setting records,” Trump said.

“Outside, he’s being attacked very viciously by the press, and I’m not saying that he’s blameless, but we’ll see what happens.”