Quebec City (CNN) President Donald Trump said Friday that Russia should be reinstated to a leading group of industrialized nations ahead of his visit to the G7 summit this weekend. 
 
 Trump's statement is an extraordinary break from key US allies, and particularly striking given Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. A special counsel investigation into whether Trump campaign officials colluded with Russia is underway, though Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations. 
 
 "Russia should be in this meeting," Trump told reporters upon leaving the White House for the summit, which is being held in Charlevoix, Canada. "They should let Russia come back in, because we should have Russia at the negotiating table." 
 
 Russia was suspended from the group -- then known as the G8 -- in 2014 after the majority of member countries allied against Russia's annexation of Crimea, which Russia continues to hold. 
 
 Asked in an interview earlier this week about what would need to happen for Russia to return Crimea to Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Austria's ORF broadcasting corporation that "there are no such conditions and there can never be." 
 
 Friction with key allies 
 
 Trump's comments underscore the growing divide between the US, under his administration, and Washington's closest allies. 
 
 The President's willingness to look the other way on Russia's annexation of Crimea -- the first violation of a European country's borders since World War II -- will particularly deepen the chill with allies such as the UK, France and Germany, which are already furious about US trade tariffs, and Trump's rejection of the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate agreement. 
 
 "We always been clear we should engage with Russia where it is in our interests, but we need to remember why G8 became the G7: it was because Russia illegally annexed Crimea," a European diplomat told CNN. "Since then, we have seen an increase in Russian misbehavior and attempts to undermine democracy in Europe. It is not appropriate for Russia to rejoin until we see it behaving responsibly. Putin should get nothing for free." 
 
 At home, Trump's continuing failure to condemn Russia for its aggressive behavior and his ongoing push to restore more normal relations is bound to raise questions, once again, about his affinity for Moscow and Putin. 
 
 Sen. John McCain blasted Trump for his comments, saying "The President has inexplicably shown our adversaries the deference and esteem that should be reserved for our closest allies." 
 
 The Arizona Republican, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement that Putin "chose to make Russia unworthy of membership in the G-8 by invading Ukraine and annexing Crimea. Nothing he has done since then has changed that most obvious fact. Every day, Russian-led separatist forces are killing Ukrainians in the Donbass. Every day, Putin's forces are helping the Assad regime slaughter the Syrian people. And every day, through assassinations, cyber-attacks, and malign influence, Russia is assaulting democratic institutions all over the world." 
 
 The statement added, "Those nations that share our values and have sacrificed alongside us for decades are being treated with contempt. This is the antithesis of so-called 'principled realism' and a sure path to diminishing America's leadership in the world." 
 
 Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Nebraska, also a member of the Armed Services Committee, said in a statement, "Putin is not our friend and he is not the President's buddy. He is a thug using Soviet-style aggression to wage a shadow war against America, and our leaders should act like it." 
 
 Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump was turning US foreign policy "into an international joke, doing lasting damage to our country." 
 
 Former Vice President Joe Biden also criticized Trump's remarks , writing on Twitter, "Putin's Russia invaded its neighbors, violated our sovereignty by undermining elections, and attacks dissidents abroad. Yet our President wants to reward him with a seat at the table while alienating our closest democratic allies. It makes no sense." 
 
 The comment not only surprised American allies and politicians, but Trump's own National Security Council staff. 
 
 A National Security Council official told reporters in Quebec Trump's comments were not planned. 
 
 When asked about whether there was a potential for a summit between Russian President Putin and President Trump, the official said there have been no discussions in terms of when, where or what that summit might look like. The official added that there was some chatter, but it's not something the NSC is working on internally. 
 
 Acrimonious start to G7 
 
 Trump's comments also come at a time when Trump is on the outs with other members of the G7. On Thursday, Trump engaged in a bitter back-and-forth with French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over Twitter, both of whom he'll meet face-to-face on Friday. 
 
 Trump is expecting a knock-down, drag-out fight with top US allies over trade during his time at the conference, held in remote Quebec. It's a battle he believes he can win, but which he's unenthusiastic about waging in person, people familiar with his thinking say. 
 
 On Thursday, Macron said the leaders would not rule out a 6+1 communique as opposed to the traditional document signed by all leaders at the end of the summit with shared goals and principles. 
 
 One G7 leader, however, quickly backed Trump's statement: Italy's newly sworn in Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, who said it would be in "everyone's interest" for Russia to be reinstated. 
 
 Although Conte, a former law professor, has not voiced particularly strong opinions on Russia in the past, his two deputies -- the leader of the Five Star movement and the far-right League Party, who have considered influence over him -- have frequently expressed pro-Russia views. ||||| President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before leaving the White House in Washington, Friday, June 8, 2018, to attend the G7 Summit in Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Associated Press) 
 
 President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before leaving the White House in Washington, Friday, June 8, 2018, to attend the G7 Summit in Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and the annual Group of Seven meeting of industrialized nations (all times local): 
 
 8:30 a.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump is calling for Russia to be reinstated to the leading group of industrialized nations, now known as the Group of Seven. 
 
 Trump tells 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. 
 
 Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether Trump associates colluded with Russia in a bid to sway the 2016 presidential election in Trump's favor. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7:25 a.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump says he won't be talking about the Russia probe for a while because he'll be focused on trade talks at the annual Group of Seven meeting of industrialized nations. 
 
 Trump notes on Twitter that he's heading for Canada, where the nations' leaders are gathering at a Quebec resort. Several are expected to challenge Trump's new trade policies, which include tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. 
 
 Trump tweets that the talks "will mostly center on the long time unfair trade practiced against the United States." After that, he'll head to Singapore for a summit with North Korea. 
 
 He adds: "Won't be talking about the Russian Witch Hunt Hoax for a while!" 
 
 ___ 
 
 6:40 a.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump says he is looking forward to "straightening out unfair Trade Deals" at the annual Group of Seven meeting. 
 
 The group of industrialized nations is gathering at a Quebec resort for discussions that are expected to be tense. The leaders from France and Canada say they will push back against new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. 
 
 Trump showed no signs of budging on his trade policies Friday, tweeting: "Looking forward to straightening out unfair Trade Deals with the G-7 countries. If it doesn't happen, we come out even better! 
 
 ___ 
 
 1:50 a.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump is set to descend on the annual Group of Seven meeting of industrialized nations, expecting tough trade talks as his go-it-alone policies leave him increasingly isolated. 
 
 On the eve of Friday's gathering at a Quebec resort, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau previewed what will likely be a tense two days. They stressed the need for respectful dialogue but say they will push back against new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, as they have on other issues. 
 
 Trump is showing no signs of backing away from what he sees as key campaign promises. He tweeted Thursday: "Getting ready to go to the G-7 in Canada to fight for our country on Trade (we have the worst trade deals ever made)." ||||| Trump vexes allies as he calls for Russia to rejoin G-7 The statement comes as Trump was already feuding with Macron and Trudeau ahead of the world leader meeting in Canada. 
 
 President Donald Trump on Friday called for Russia to be reinstated into the group of the world’s largest economies, drawing the ire of both Democratic and Republican lawmakers and further inflaming tensions at the G-7 meeting in Canada. 
 
 “Now, I love our country. I have been Russia's worst nightmare,” Trump said. “But with that being said, Russia should be in this meeting. Why are we having a meeting without Russia being in the meeting?” 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 Trump made the remarks on the White House South Lawn as he left for the G-7 summit in Quebec, which he will depart from early in order to travel to Singapore, where he is scheduled to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next week. 
 
 His suggestion that the G-7 welcome Russia back into the fold is likely to heighten tensions in Quebec, where the president is expected to meet with allies irate over his decision to impose tariffs on imports from Canada and the European Union. In recent days, Trump has engaged in a war of words with French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 
 
 The G-7, short for Group of Seven, was the G-8 until 2014, when the group’s members expelled Russia over its invasion and annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. The G-7’s current membership comprises the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Britain. 
 
 “I would recommend — and it's up to them, but Russia should be in the meeting, it should be a part of it. You know, whether you like it or not, and it may not be politically correct, but we have a world to run,” Trump told reporters. “And in the G-7, which used to be the G-8, they threw Russia out. They should let Russia come back in. Because we should have Russia at the negotiating table.” 
 
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 Trump's suggestion that Russia be brought back into the exclusive club of industrialized nations earned at least one endorsement Friday — that of Italy's new, right-wing prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, who wrote on Twitter that he agreed with the U.S. president. 
 
 But the British government raised alarms about the proposal, which also brought bipartisan scorn from U.S. lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.). 
 
 “President Trump is turning our foreign policy into an international joke, doing lasting damage to our country, without any rhyme or reason. We need the president to be able to distinguish between our allies and adversaries, and to treat each accordingly. On issue after issue, he’s failed to do that," Schumer said in a statement. “The president’s support for inviting Russia back into the G-7, just after they meddled in the election to support his campaign, will leave millions of Americans with serious questions and suspicions.” 
 
 "This is weak. Putin is not our friend and he is not the president's buddy," Sasse said in his own statement. "He is a thug using Soviet-style aggression to wage a shadow war against America, and our leaders should act like it." 
 
 Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a frequent Trump critic who tangled with the president earlier this week, was blunt in a tweet: "No, Russia should not be added to the G-7." 
 
 Flake's Arizona colleague, GOP Sen. John McCain, was similarly critical of the president's suggestion in a statement emailed to reporters Friday afternoon. 
 
 “Vladimir Putin chose to make Russia unworthy of membership in the G-8 by invading Ukraine and annexing Crimea. Nothing he has done since then has changed that most obvious fact," McCain said. “The President has inexplicably shown our adversaries the deference and esteem that should be reserved for our closest allies.” 
 
 Trump’s support for Russia’s reentry into the group of leading economies adds to the lengthy list of warm gestures he has offered for the Kremlin and its leader, President Vladimir Putin. Critics of the president have long complained that his foreign policy is too soft on Russia, which the U.S. intelligence community has said sought to interfere in the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf, especially relative to the president’s get-tough approach to foreign policy elsewhere around the globe. 
 
 But while Trump’s rhetoric toward Russia, and Putin in particular, has been noticeably warmer than that of his predecessor, the president and his administration have pointed often to significant steps taken against the Kremlin, including new sanctions, the expulsion of dozens of diplomats and the forced closure of Russia’s two West Coast consulates, in Seattle and San Francisco. 
 
 "If Hillary got in, I think Putin is probably going, ‘Man, I wish Hillary won,’ because you see what I do," Trump said on Friday about his harsher actions against Russia. 
 
 Russia had been scheduled to host the G-8 summit in 2014 and had been planning to hold the leaders’ gathering in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, which was also the site of the Winter Olympics that year. But after Russian troops invaded Crimea, officials quickly rescheduled for Brussels, the de facto capital of the European Union, which participates in both the G-7 and the G-20. Russia remains a part of the larger group. 
 
 Trump has run afoul of some of America's closest allies in the run-up to the Quebec gathering. 
 
 He has devoted significant focus in recent weeks to resetting U.S. trade relationships around the globe, complaining especially loudly about what he says is unfair treatment by top trade partners like Canada and the EU. The president's decision to impose tariffs on both earned him a stern rebuke from Trudeau and the leaders of multiple major EU nations. 
 
 Trump was originally scheduled to meet Friday for two bilateral meetings, one with Trudeau and another with Macron, although the White House said Friday morning that Trump was running late and that the Macron meeting would have to be rescheduled for later in the day. Trudeau's greeting of Trump ahead of their meeting appeared somewhat stiff but was marked mostly by handshakes and pleasantries. 
 
 White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump and Macron met informally and "exchanged pleasantries and briefly discussed trade." She added that Macron and Trump would hold another meeting later Friday. 
 
 Macron and Trump both promised this week to confront Trump over his recent decision to impose tariffs on U.S. allies, using blunt language to describe their positions. 
 
 “Maybe the American president doesn’t care about being isolated today, but we don’t mind being six, if needs be,” Macron said. 
 
 Following their joint meeting at the summit, Macron said he and Trump had a “very direct discussion.“ But both of the leaders‘ description of their chat were devoid of the escalating rhetoric they had exchanged in the days and hours leading up the summit. 
 
 “I also want to congratulate you, because I‘m reading what‘s going on in France,“ Trump told Macron in front of a gathering of reporters. “You've got great courage. You‘re doing the right thing.“ 
 
 Trump hit back on Twitter late Thursday. 
 
 "Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers," he 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." 
 
 He added, "Prime Minister Trudeau is being so indignant, bringing up the relationship that the U.S. and Canada had over the many years and all sorts of other things...but he doesn’t bring up the fact that they charge us up to 300% on dairy — hurting our Farmers, killing our Agriculture!" 
 
 When asked by reporters Friday morning about the spat, Trump presented it as a temporary trade dispute and that "in the end we'll all get along." 
 
 "Look, all of these countries have been taking advantage of the United States on trade," Trump said. "We have massive trade deficits with almost every country. We will straighten that out. And I'll tell you what, it's what I do. It won't even be hard, and in the end we'll all get along. ... When it all straightens out, we'll all be in love again." 
 
 The president later made light of the distance between himself and Trudeau on trade, joking during a bilateral meeting that the prime minister “has agreed to cut all tariffs and all trade barriers between Canada and the United States.“ Trump then reassured reporters the two were “actually working“ on the matter and had “made a lot of progress today.“ 
 
 Trump managed to draw a laugh from Trudeau and Merkel prior to a working session on Friday afternoon. The president caught sight of New York Times photographer Doug Mills, turned to Trudeau and quipped: "He's the number one photographer in the world. Unfortunately, he works for The New York Times." 
 
 The remarks, overheard by a pool reporter, prompted laughter from Trudeau and Merkel. Reporters were subsequently escorted out. 
 
 Despite numerous other differences, Western leaders have remained united in the need to maintain economic sanctions and other pressure on Russia over its military intervention in Ukraine — not just in Crimea but also in the eastern Donbas region, where it has supported an armed insurgency. An international investigative team recently announced that a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet, Flight MH-17, that was shot down over eastern Ukraine in 2014 was destroyed by a Russian missile supplied by a specific military unit in southern Russia. 
 
 Putin has continued to deny any Russian role in that episode, which killed all 298 people on board. Putin initially denied that Russian military forces had invaded Crimea but later acknowledged that they had done so, and even bestowed awards on soldiers who participated in the operation. 
 
 David Herszenhorn and Cristiano Lima contributed to this report.
– President Trump is calling for Russia to be reinstated to the leading group of industrialized nations, now known as the Group of Seven, the AP reports. "Now, I love our country. I have been Russia's worst nightmare," Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House Friday morning as he prepared to leave for the G7 summit in Canada, per Politico. "But with that being said, Russia should be in this meeting. Why are we having a meeting without Russia being in the meeting?" He added: "Whether you like it or not, and it may not be politically correct, but we have a world to run. And in the G7, which used to be the G8, they threw Russia out. They should let Russia come back in. Because we should have Russia at the negotiating table." 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: the US, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, and the UK. CNN notes Trump's remarks come after a public Twitter battle Thursday with French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over new tariffs the US has hit its allies with for "national security" purposes.