As leaders of the world’s seven most developed countries descended on Biarritz for their annual summit, there was more disagreement than harmony among the group, and more petty squabbling than in a soap opera.
Trade tension, environmental anxiety, tech taxes and Brexit woes have cast a shadow over the meeting in France so that European Council President Donald Tusk predicted a “difficult test of unity and solidarity.”
French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump jabbed at each other even before the American touched down on French soil. Macron urged world leaders to follow France’s example and impose a digital tax on Silicon Valley tech companies, which he said on Wednesday “are not contributing to the common good.” Trump took offense, and threatened on Friday to tax “their wine like they’ve never seen before” in response.