rio de janeiro
CNN
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G20 talks are starting here this week after one of Trump’s key global allies resisted a joint leaders’ statement, but Donald Trump’s influence is already causing drama behind the scenes, with diplomats They interpret this move as an attempt to curry favor with President Trump. The next government.
Argentina’s President Javier Millay last week became the first world leader to meet directly with Trump since his election, but he threatened to block the final communiqué over disputes over language related to taxes on the ultra-wealthy and gender issues. It was reported that. Two diplomats familiar with the issue.
It’s not unusual for summits to have some back-and-forth over final statements, but Mr. Milley’s hurdle comes as Argentina had already agreed to a declaration on taxing the ultra-wealthy this summer, only to have it overturned. It was considered a curiosity by diplomats. itself after Trump was elected president.
It’s just one example of President Trump casting a long shadow over two world summits in South America this week. Even as President Joe Biden works to promote American leadership and burnish his legacy at the last major summit, leaders are ignoring him and calling for the next president in the Oval Office. I’m looking at the residents.
President Trump’s surprising series of picks for key cabinet positions last week became a hot topic in private back-hallway conversations among delegates to the APEC summit in Peru, diplomatic officials said, with the U.S. The choice of former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard to head the intelligence agency has reportedly become a hot topic. And Fox News host Pete Hegseth will become head of the Pentagon.
“Everyone was talking about the new characters,” one Asian diplomat said after the summit.
White House officials also said that while Trump did not directly make the remarks during Biden’s conversations with the leaders of Japan, South Korea and Peru, China’s Xi Jinping during his last summit with Biden on Saturday The president’s opening remarks reportedly hinted at Trump’s return.
“China is ready to work with the new US administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and address differences,” Xi said at the start of talks with Biden.
Biden spoke with Trump for two hours in the Oval Office before flying to Lima, but gave no specifics about what the new administration has in store.
“The next administration is not going to give us guarantees about anything. The next administration will decide for themselves,” Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Saturday after meeting with Xi. ” he said.
Still, for leaders wondering what the next four years will look like, the controversy over the G20’s final statement may offer a hint.
Officials gathered in Rio said Milley was emboldened by Trump’s election and had been trying to lay the foundations for a new power center among like-minded leaders even before Trump took office. He said he believed there was.
Brazilian officials have been trying to resolve differences ahead of the summit, and there was a possibility that the communiqué would spell out Argentina’s opposition in parts of the communiqué that Argentina would not sign.
But for many involved in the discussion, the episode signaled that the controversy that colored world summits during Trump’s first presidency could return.
“You can already see the Trump effect taking hold,” one Western diplomat said as the summit got underway. “Conservatives like Mr. Milley are plotting to ally with him before he takes office. This is a preview of what the next four years will be like.”
In Rio, Mr. Biden is scheduled to attend an event on the fight against hunger and poverty and is expected to make new U.S. commitments on climate and development, although many of his leaders are currently sees it as a symbolic move that will be quickly snuffed out by the next president. management.
On Sunday, Biden acknowledged that his term in office is short.
“It’s no secret that I’m leaving office in January,” Biden said after airlifting the Amazon River, where a two-year drought has caused wildfires and dried up riverbeds. “If they do, I will leave my successors and my country a solid foundation to build upon.”
Another official in Rio said Mr. Trump’s expected withdrawal from agreements such as the Paris climate accord could encourage leaders like Mr. Milley to follow suit, creating a major rift within the group. expressed concern.
“(The war in Ukraine) has already caused conflict between countries,” the official said. Russia is a member of the G20, and many countries in the bloc, especially those in the so-called Global South, do not participate in Western attempts to punish Russia.
“President Trump will only cause more division, and more division means less influence and influence,” the official continued.
Biden aides acknowledged in a speech Monday morning that countries are looking ahead to the U.S. transition. But Biden said he remains commander in chief.
“Fundamentally, our system is predicated on one president at a time,” said Deputy National Security Adviser John Feiner. “President Biden is just that president, and we’re going to transfer power in January, and it’s up to the new administration to decide what to do with it.”
