Trump defends relationship with G7 leaders

US President Donald Trump has said that his relationship with the rest of the G7 leaders is good as he accused the media of not telling the truth about the summit in Canada.

Trump posted a dozen photographs on his Twitter account on late Friday in which he was surrounded by the rest of the G7 leaders during the June 8-9 summit, all of them smiling and relaxed.

"I have a great relationship with Angela Merkel of Germany but the Fake News Media only shows the bad photos (implying anger) of negotiating an agreement, where I am asking for things that no other American President would ask for!" Trump wrote.

He posted a few photos that showed him seated on one side of the table with the rest of the leaders, including Merkel, standing on the other side.

Unlike the photos that have emerged so far of the summit, which hinted at tension, in those shared by Trump, all leaders seem to be smiling, Efe news reported.

"The Fake News Media said that I did not get along with other Leaders at the G7Summit in Canada. They are once again, Wrong!" Trump said in another tweet.

With this message, the US President posted a family photo of the summit that showed all the leaders smiling and another photograph of him with French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and one with British Prime Minister Theresa May.

In a third tweet, accompanied by a photo of him with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and with European Council President Donald Tusk, Trump said he had had "great discussions" with them.

The tweets came a week after Trump attended the G7 summit, at which he made the controversial proposal of bringing Russia back into the group and refused to sign the G7 statement at the end.

He subsequently had a spat with Trudeau, when he called the Canadian leader "dishonest and weak" and threatened to impose tariffs on automobile imports.

--IANS

soni/mr