Julie Pace and Jonathan Lemire, The Associated Press 

 



TAORMINA, Italy -- Forceful face-to-face talks this week with fellow world leaders left U.S. President Donald Trump "more knowledgeable" and with "evolving" views about the global climate accord he's threatened to abandon, a top White House official said Friday. Trump also was impressed by their arguments about how crucial U.S. leadership is in supporting international efforts.

The president's new apparent openness to staying in the landmark Paris climate pact came amid a determined pressure campaign by European leaders. During Friday's gathering of the Group of 7 wealthy democracies -- as well as at earlier stops on Trump's first international trip -- leaders have implored him to stick with the 2015 accord aimed at reducing carbon emissions and slowing potentially disastrous global warming.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the G7 leaders "put forward very many arguments" for the U.S. sticking with the agreement. And by Friday evening, White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said Trump's views were indeed "evolving."

"He feels much more knowledgeable on the topic today," Cohn said. "He came here to learn, he came here to get smarter."

While those comments were remarkable given Trump's fierce criticism of the Paris deal as a candidate, they were also in keeping with his emerging pattern as president. A novice in international affairs, Trump has been surprisingly candid about the impact his conversations with world leaders have had in shaping his views on numerous issues.

He backed away from his tough campaign talk about trade with China after a summit with President Xi Jinping. And he abandoned his criticism of Saudi Arabia's human rights record following his warm welcome in the desert kingdom this week.

On Friday, G7 leaders appeared to take a page out of the playbook other countries have followed, emphasizing America's unrivaled influence on the world stage. Cohn told reporters that Trump was struck by "how important it is for the United States to show leadership" and how even in massive international agreements, there's "a big gap when you take the biggest economy out."

White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster quickly jumped in to assert that Trump would make his decisions based "on what's best for the American people," hewing to the "America First" policy that energized the president's supporters during last year's election campaign.

Nearly 200 countries are part of the Paris accord, and each sets its own emissions targets, which are not legally binding. The U.S. has pledged to reduce its annual greenhouse gas emissions in 2025 by 26 to 28 per cent below 2005 levels, which would be a reduction of about 1.6 billion tons of annual emissions.

The Trump administration has argued that the U.S. standards are tougher than those set by China, India and others, and therefore have put American businesses at a disadvantage.

After more than a week abroad, Trump will close his international trip Saturday with additional G-7 meetings and an address to U.S. troops at a nearby air base. Unlike many of the leaders, he does not plan a news conference, meaning he'll end his trip without a formal question-and-answer session with journalists that could have included queries about the investigation back home into contacts between Russia and his election campaign.

The G7 marked Trump's final stop on a grueling nine-day trip through the Middle East and Europe. While the president was warmly received in Saudi Arabia and Israel, his reception in Europe was been more tepid given his campaign criticisms of NATO and the European Union, the continent's most powerful institutions.

In Brussels on Thursday, Trump excoriated fellow NATO leaders whose countries don't meet the military alliance's financial goals. The president also raised eyebrows with his comment in a private meeting that Germans are "bad" for having a large trade surplus with the U.S.

The gap between Trump and other G7 leaders on climate underscored his isolation from Europe on some major issues. The other G7 nations -- Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan -- were weighing whether to issue a statement at the close of the summit reiterating their support for the Paris accord, even if the United States was not included.

The White House's slow decision-making on the issue led to the European leaders' persuasion campaign. Multiple White House meetings on the matter were delayed in recent weeks, and Trump advisers ultimately said he would not make a decision until after he returns to Washington this weekend.

In fact, discussions over the climate deal have sown divisions within the White House, splitting the nationalists and the globalists -- including Cohn -- who are competing for influence within Trump's administration. One potential compromise that's emerged involves staying in the climate accord but adjusting the U.S. emissions targets.

Even before arriving in the picturesque Sicilian coastal town of Taormina for the G7 summit, Trump was facing pressure on Paris during his trip.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with him at length about the climate deal during a meeting Thursday in Brussels. The Vatican secretary of state, Pietro Parolin, made his own pro-Paris pitch to Trump and his advisers.

Pope Francis, who has framed climate change as an urgent moral crisis and blamed global warming on an unfair, fossil fuel-based industrial model that harms the poor, also appeared to be sending a message to Trump during their meeting. Among the three documents the pope presented as a gift was his 2015 encyclical on the need to protect the environment.

Associated Press writers Colleen Barry and Sylvie Corbet in Taormina, Italy; Angela Charlton in Brussels; and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report</s>TAORMINA, Sicily (AP) — The differences are well-known: climate change, trade and migration threaten to throw a summit of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies off its consensus game, with U.S. President Donald Trump cast as the spoiler-in-chief. But it may not play out exactly that way, according to long-time G7 observers.

“It is a forum made for Donald Trump’s particular style. It is highly informal, highly interactive and they speak in very colloquial language to each other,” said John Kirton, director of the G7 Research Group at the University of Toronto. “It is the ultimate lonely hearts club. No one understands how tough it is to have the top job except the peers with the top job in other countries.”

While Trump has met all of the leaders one on one, this will be the first time all seven are around the same table, including also newcomers Emmanuel Macron of France, Theresa May of Britain and the Italian host, Paolo Gentiloni — forging a new dynamic after a year of global political turmoil amid rising nationalism.

Climate policy promises to be the real buzzkill at the G7 party. Endorsing measures to combat terror is expected to find easy agreement, especially after the attack on an English pop music concert killed 22 people Monday night. But some of the trust that fuels such meetings was undermined by a leak of British intelligence in the Manchester attack blamed on a U.S. official, prompting the Britain to decide not to share further intelligence in the case. Trump is also going against the grain on trade with more protectionist stand.

His pending review of U.S. climate policies and decision not to make up his mind before Taormina has braced environmentalists for the possibility of bland language that says little after years of increasingly stronger commitments to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and emissions of in greenhouse gases under the Paris Agreement.

“What we do not want to see is a false compromise on nothing,” said Tobias Muenchmeyer, a political expert for Greenpeace. “We want to see determination and commitment over unity,” with the other partners going ahead without the United States.

Trump’s attempts to impose a U.S. travel ban on some Muslim countries contrast with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s position that immigration is a source of strong, sustainable inclusive growth. Sicily is on the front lines in Europe’s migration crisis, the first landfall for most of the more than 180,000 migrants who arrived in Italy last year — and the reason the Italian government chose Sicily as the backdrop for this summit.

Kirton said Trump has demonstrated the ability to come to bilateral agreements, and it is possible that Taormina will yield deals for which he can claim credit at home. But his volatile style could upend even summit decisions.

“It is always possible the president will change his mind even before he lands in Washington and fire off some more tweets,” Kirton said.</s>Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Mr Trump described the G7 summit as "tremendously productive"

Leaders of the G7 group of rich nations have failed to agree a statement on climate change.

Six world leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris accord, the world's first comprehensive deal aimed at reducing greenhouse emissions.

However, the US has refused to recommit to the agreement, saying it will make a decision next week.

Mr Trump, who once dismissed global warming as a "hoax", has previously threatened to pull out of the accord.

The Axios news site, quoting three sources, later reported that Mr Trump had told members of his inner circle that the US will withdraw from the Paris agreement.

This is Mr Trump's first G7 summit - during his first foreign trip.

G7 leaders from the US, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan have agreed a statement on fighting terrorism.

'America first' and cultural mishaps

Why is there no deal on climate change?

The final communique issued at the G7 summit in Italy said the US "is in the process of reviewing its policies on climate change and on the Paris Agreement and thus is not in a position to join the consensus on these topics".

However, the other G7 leaders pledged to "reaffirm their strong commitment to swiftly implement the Paris Agreement".

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the discussion on climate change had been "very unsatisfactory", adding "we have a situation of six against one".

Mr Trump tweeted: "I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week!"

His economic adviser, Gary Cohn, said Mr Trump "came here to learn. He came here to get smart. His views are evolving... exactly as they should be."

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Antonio Guterres: "The agreement doesn't collapse if a country leaves"

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is also in Sicily for the meeting, told the BBC earlier that the accord would survive regardless of Mr Trump's position.

Analysis by James Reynolds, BBC News, Taormina

There is a new fault line within the G7. An informal G6 (Canada, Japan, the UK, France, Germany, Italy) faces an informal G1 - the US.

The drafters of the summit's final communique had no way of hiding the division which exists on climate change.

The statement noted simply that six countries remained committed to the Paris agreement while the US was in the process of evaluating its participation.

In his closing news conference, Italy's Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni was unable to hide his disappointment with the lack of agreement. On this subject, the G1 acts alone.

What about trade?

The G7 has been a champion of free trade since its inception.

The leaders' last summit in Japan last year stressed the need to avoid protectionism. But this was before the election of Donald Trump and his campaign slogan of "America First".

German weekly Der Spiegel quoted Mr Trump as saying in a meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Thursday that Germans were "very bad" regarding car exports to the US.

However, all G7 leaders agreed to back the final communique which pledged to "fight protectionism", while acknowledging that "trade has not always worked to the benefit of everyone".

How about migration?

Leaders from Tunisia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Niger and Nigeria took part in the discussions in Sicilian town Taormina earlier on Saturday.

Italy is keen to encourage the world's wealthiest nations to support African countries in developing their economies, so fewer young people will feel forced to make the dangerous journey to Europe.

However, a diplomat told Reuters that other Italian proposals - which looked to highlight the benefits of migration and promote a major initiative on food security - were dismissed ahead of the summit.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Trump has been tough on migration, trade and climate change

According to the source, Mr Trump's administration was unwilling to highlight benefits of human mobility, Reuters reported.

A statement originally intended to be separate and run into several pages has now been condensed to two paragraphs.

So far this year, more than 1,500 migrants are thought to have drowned in the Mediterranean.

How has Mr Trump's trip gone?

Mr Trump described his first foreign trip as "a truly historic week for our country" and said he was "more hopeful than ever that nations of many faiths... can join together in common cause" in fighting terrorism.

He is now returning to the US, where his approval ratings are low.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Mr Trump, pictured with wife Melania, is no doubt hoping for positive reviews of his first overseas trip

US media have already been casting judgement:

Conservative daily The Washington Times said Mr Trump "neared the end of his first foreign trip Thursday by largely fulfilling a transformative agenda that was more ambitious than anything Mr Obama tried overseas during his first year in office". It went on to note "the president has made no major gaffes on the trip"

But James P. Rubin, a former assistant secretary of state for Bill Clinton, was far less forgiving. Writing in Politico Magazine, he described Mr Trump as doing little more than "muddling" through the engagements. Mr Rubin went on to say that "despite the highly staged events designed to pump up Trump's image, the new administration has done nothing on this trip to restore respect and admiration for US international leadership"

Broadcaster ABC News, meanwhile, chose to focus on the President's "awkward body language moments" - including pushing the Montenegrin prime minister out the way.

Headlines in the US continue to be dominated by alleged Russian meddling in November's election, and there are whisperings of discontent within his own party over policy decisions.

Where else has Trump been this week?

Making his first foreign trip as president, he came to Sicily from Brussels where he had held talks with EU and Nato leaders.

At Nato headquarters, he complained that many Nato member states were not spending enough on defence, expecting the US to bear the burden.

Before that, he visited Pope Francis in Rome and toured the Middle East - first Saudi Arabia, then Israel and the Palestinian territories.</s>TAORMINA, Italy -- Donald Trump and his six fellow G7 leaders, who seemed to take up a lot less space next to the larger-than-life U.S. president, agreed Friday to do more to counter violent extremism, but remained far apart on issues like climate change and free trade.

A statement, separate from the not-yet-complete final communique, said that while the G7 is already committed to the fight against terrorism, Monday's deadly attack in Manchester has driven home the need to step up efforts -- and quickly.

"We will bring the fight against terrorism to a higher level by relentlessly preventing, investigating and prosecuting terrorist acts, their perpetrators and supporters," said the text of a joint statement issued in the medieval Sicilian town of Taormina.

"Our shared system of values and norms, respect for human rights and cultural diversity, the promotion of fundamental freedoms and the principles on which our societies are built will remain a beacon for our common action and the first and best defence against this common threat."

To that end, the leaders promised measures that included countering online terrorist propaganda and recruitment, better intelligence-sharing to confront the threat of foreign fighters, increased co-operation among border agencies and working on social inclusion as a way to prevent radicalization.

There was, however, a long way to go before the leaders could arrive at a happy consensus on other issues.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went into the meeting intending to champion the benefits of free trade and action on climate change at the summit, even with Trump trying ever harder to steer the world in a different direction.

"There are clearly some areas where the Canadian position may not be universally embraced," said Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland.

A Canadian government official with knowledge of the negotiations said sticking points like international trade and the Paris agreement on climate change, which Trump has promised to abandon, would likely keep talks going through the night.

That, it turned out, was an understatement.

While Canada, Italy, Germany, France, Britain and Japan confirmed their commitment to the Paris agreement, Trump -- who promised during the campaign to abandon the accord -- had not yet made up his mind, said Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

"He said, 'I would rather take my time and understand the issues and then get to the right decision on that,"' said chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn.

Trump doesn't want anyone to think he does not care about the environment, Cohn added: "His views are evolving. He came here to learn and get smarter."

And on trade, Trump was caught having stoked a contentious fire, as the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported the president had told leaders of the EU before the summit began that the Germans were "bad" for having a large trade surplus with the United States.

Cohn sought to clarify the situation by explaining that Trump had noted, "I don't have a problem with Germany. I have a problem with German trade."

Trudeau, meanwhile, was described by his foreign affairs minister as seeking common ground among the seven leaders, while standing firmly behind Canada's positions.

"We're always going to be clear at these meetings that climate change is a hugely important issue," Freeland said. "It's hugely important for Canadians, and we are proud to be taking a strong stand at home, a strong stand around the world on this issue."

The same thing goes for free trade, she added.

"Canada believes very strongly in a rules-based international trading order. We're a trading nation and we're always going to stand up for that."

Trudeau, who met briefly Friday with British Prime Minister Theresa May, also has a face-to-face with Trump scheduled for Saturday.

The Liberal government had been hoping to secure a meeting in order to continue to press its case on the North American Free Trade Agreement and other big cross-border issues.

Trudeau is expecting to find an ally on free trade, climate change and other so-called progressive issues in Macron, the newly elected French president with whom he had a bilateral meeting Friday.

Macron highlighted their shared relative youth as he spoke of how they can deal with shifting alliances and political upheaval around the globe.

"In a world with more and more imbalance, uncertainty and fascination for authoritarian regimes, where our values are sometimes threatened, the history of our countries should be defended -- our values," Macron said during the public portion of their meeting.

"It's the responsibility of our generation."

Canada will be hosting the G7 summit next year and an official says Trudeau is expected to make inclusive growth and gender equality the major themes of the gathering, which will take place at a remote luxury resort in the Charlevoix region of Quebec.</s>TAORMINA, Sicily (AP) – The Latest on the G-7 summit in Taormina, Sicily (all times local):

4 p.m. – Brigitte Macron and Melania Trump are both cutting elegant figures at events for spouses on the sidelines of the G-7 summit.

The two greeted each other warmly when they met Friday at Catania’s City Hall.

Brigitte Macron dressed casually in white jeans, a red sweater and wedged Espadrilles, while Melania Trump wore a floral applique designer jacket over a smart white dress with a matching floral clutch.

The spouses were invited for an Italian aperitivo and lunch at the historic Elephants Palace, greeted by the mayor and his companion. The guests included also German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s husband, Joachim Sauer, who rarely joins his wife abroad, Shinzo Abe’s wife, Akie Abe, and Italian host Paolo Gentiloni’s wife, Emanuela Mauro.

Some of the spouses got a helicopter’s eye view of Mount Etna, an active volcano near Catania, but not Mrs. Trump, who arrived separately in her own minivan. She also skipped a tour of a Baroque Benedictine Monastery.

3 p.m. – Residents of the hilltop Sicilian town of Taormina are cheering and waving as the leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies pass by – a rarity for global summits, where ordinary people are usually kept far away for security reasons.

Crowds lined the route as Donald Trump and the other six G-7 leaders made their way from Taormina’s famed ancient Greek theater, where they took the traditional G-7 photo, to the five-star San Domenico Palace, where meetings were taking place The leaders made a brief stop along the way to take in a breathtaking view of the sea.

While most people were kept far from the summit site, residents of Taormina, a town of 11,000, were given accreditation passes to wear around their necks, allowing them to stay at home during the two-day summit.

One man toted his groceries through the crowd, and two little girls in white T-shirts were waving at the leaders.

2:35 p.m. – Germany is rejecting U.S. suggestions that bilateral deals might be possible between the U.S. and European Union members.

German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer told reporters in Berlin on Friday that the EU “has a common trade policy that is implemented by the European Commission.”

He says in the last 50 years the EU has “done very well as an increasingly big and powerful economic bloc by agreeing trade deals for the (entire) union and for individual member states.”

He also says it could be a “thorn in the side” of the U.S. government that the EU is “probably a stronger and more powerful trade bloc than the United States of America or NAFTA.” Schaefer says the EU has no reason for “be sad about this, it’s what makes us strong.”

2:15 p.m. – Germany is rejecting a U.S. official’s assertion that efforts to combat climate change will harm economic growth.

White House economic adviser Gary Cohn was reported to have said that economic considerations would prevail if they collide with measures to curtail global warming under the 2015 Paris climate accord.

Asked about the comments Friday, a spokesman for Germany’s environment ministry says “we expressly don’t share the view that protecting the climate harms economic growth.”

Nikolai Fichtner says Germany sees protecting the climate as “a modernization program for national economies. And the key question is whether one is part of this early on or not.”

As G-7 leaders gathered in Sicily, Fichtner says Germany is “lobbying at all levels right now for the U.S. to remain in the Paris Agreement” on fighting climate change.

1:40 p.m. – A German government spokesman says trade surpluses like the one that’s provoking President Donald Trump’s ire are the result of market factors and are “neither good nor bad.”

Spokesman Georg Streiter didn’t comment directly on a report that Trump called Germany “bad, very bad” on trade because of the success of German companies in selling autos and other goods to U.S. customers.

But, speaking in Berlin, Streiter said Germany’s current account surplus – the broadest measure of trade and investment flows – reflects economic factors that the German government can’t directly do anything about.

He said it was “also caused by factors that cannot, or at least cannot directly, be influenced by economic or financial policy measures in Germany, for example the oil price, the euro exchange rate, but also structural factors such as demographic developments.”

1:20 p.m. – The Italian air force’s Frecce Tricolori acrobatics team is putting on a show for the G-7 summit, streaming the colors of the Italian flag over the sea as the leaders watch from garden in Sicily.

U.S. President Donald Trump, and the leaders of six other wealthy democracies – France, Britain, Japan, Germany, Italy and Canada – are in Taormina, Sicily for this year’s G-7 summit at the 5-star San Domenico Palace hotel.

The top issues of the two-day meeting Friday and Saturday are climate change, security, trade and immigration – and the differences between the leaders are substantial.

Endorsing measures to combat terror is expected to find easy agreement, however, especially after the attack on a pop concert killed 22 people Monday night in Manchester.

12:55 p.m. – Environmental activists have staged protests on a beach and at sea near the Sicilian hilltop town of Taormina, where leaders of the world’s seven wealthiest democracies were meeting.

Greenpeace and Oxfam members carried out stunts on the seafront of Giardini Naxo on Friday to urge the Group of Seven leaders to fight climate change, one of the most problematic issues on the agenda of the two-day meeting.

Greenpeace activists on eight kayaks unfurled banners at sea with messages including “Planet Earth first.” On shore they unveiled a 4-meter (13-foot) Statue of Liberty in a life jacket that symbolized the plight of migrants and the threat of rising seas, one effect of climate change.

Oxfam activists wore masks representing the seven leaders and had a banner with the words “Paris Agreement,” the deal to fight global warming which U.S. President Trump has threatened to abandon.

12:15 p.m. – French President Emmanuel Macron has detailed his top priorities at the G-7, which include climate change and trade.

At a bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday, Macron insisted on the need for “reciprocity” on trade and said Europeans sometimes had a “too naive” approach on trade deals.

The two leaders also found common ground on terrorism, following the attack on a pop concert in Manchester that killed 22 people. Macron offered his condolences for the Manchester attack, calling for increased European cooperation against terror “because they attack our young.”

That comment also referred to the Nice truck attack last summer that killed children and young families at a fireworks display, as well as the attack on a concert at the Bataclan theater in Paris.

Macron spoke fluent English, which is very unusual for a French president.

11:55 p.m. – Despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s views, Italy’s leader is pushing for the G-7 summit to issue a strong statement on both fighting climate change and on handling the vast flow of migrants and refugees in need of help around the world.

Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni, the host of this year’s G-7 summit in Taormina, Sicily, spoke Friday as the two-day summit of the world’s wealthy democracies began.

Gentiloni says “We will make an important declaration today here in Taormina on climate change, on great migrant flows, on free trade in the world on which so many jobs depend and the future prospects for our economy.”

The Italian leader says the talks won’t be easy but “the spirit of Taormina will help push us in the right direction.”

11:20 a.m. – The chairman of the European Union’s council says he agrees with President Donald Trump that the international community should be “tough, even brutal” on terrorism and Islamic State.

European Council President Donald Tusk said terrorism was one of the main topics between EU officials and Trump during his visit to Brussels, especially in the wake of the Manchester pop concert bombing.

Tusk said that “I totally agreed with him when he said the international community, the G7, the United States, Europe – should be tough, even brutal, with terrorism and ISIS” an acronym for the extremist group fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Tusk spoke at the start of a meeting of the Group of Seven democracies in Taormina, Sicily.

7 a.m. – The hot-button issues of climate change, trade and migration threaten to throw a summit of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies off its consensus game, with U.S. President Donald Trump cast as the spoiler-in-chief.

While Trump has met all of the leaders one on one, this will be the first time all seven are around the same table, including newcomers Emmanuel Macron of France, Theresa May of Britain and the Italian host, Paolo Gentiloni.

Climate policy promises to be the real buzzkill at the G-7 party. Endorsing measures to combat terror is expected to find easy agreement, especially after the attack in Manchester on a pop music concert that left 22 people dead.

Trump also going against the grain on trade, taking a more protectionist stand.

His pending review of U.S. climate policies has left environmentalists bracing for the possibility of bland G-7 promises that says little after years of increasingly stronger commitments to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and cut greenhouse gas emissions.</s>The differences are well-known: climate change, trade and migration threaten to throw a summit of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies off its consensus game, with U.S. President Donald Trump cast as the spoiler-in-chief. But it may not play out exactly that way, according to long-time G7 observers.

"It is a forum made for Donald Trump's particular style. It is highly informal, highly interactive and they speak in very colloquial language to each other," said John Kirton, director of the G7 Research Group at the University of Toronto. "It is the ultimate lonely hearts club. No one understands how tough it is to have the top job except the peers with the top job in other countries."

While Trump has met all of the leaders one on one, this will be the first time all seven are around the same table, including also newcomers Emmanuel Macron of France, Theresa May of Britain and the Italian host, Paolo Gentiloni — forging a new dynamic after a year of global political turmoil amid rising nationalism.

Climate policy promises to be the real buzzkill at the G7 party. Endorsing measures to combat terror is expected to find easy agreement, especially after the attack on an English pop music concert killed 22 people Monday night. But some of the trust that fuels such meetings was undermined by a leak of British intelligence in the Manchester attack blamed on a U.S. official, prompting the Britain to decide not to share further intelligence in the case. Trump is also going against the grain on trade with more protectionist stand.

His pending review of U.S. climate policies and decision not to make up his mind before Taormina has braced environmentalists for the possibility of bland language that says little after years of increasingly stronger commitments to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and emissions of in greenhouse gases under the Paris Agreement.

"What we do not want to see is a false compromise on nothing," said Tobias Muenchmeyer, a political expert for Greenpeace. "We want to see determination and commitment over unity," with the other partners going ahead without the United States.

Trump's attempts to impose a U.S. travel ban on some Muslim countries contrast with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's position that immigration is a source of strong, sustainable inclusive growth. Sicily is on the front lines in Europe's migration crisis, the first landfall for most of the more than 180,000 migrants who arrived in Italy last year — and the reason the Italian government chose Sicily as the backdrop for this summit.

Kirton said Trump has demonstrated the ability to come to bilateral agreements, and it is possible that Taormina will yield deals for which he can claim credit at home. But his volatile style could upend even summit decisions.

"It is always possible the president will change his mind even before he lands in Washington and fire off some more tweets," Kirton said.</s>TAORMINA, Sicily (AP) — The differences are well-known: climate change, trade and migration threaten to throw a summit of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies off its consensus game, with U.S. President Donald Trump cast as the spoiler-in-chief. But it may not play out exactly that way, according to long-time G7 observers.

“It is a forum made for Donald Trump’s particular style. It is highly informal, highly interactive and they speak in very colloquial language to each other,” said John Kirton, director of the G7 Research Group at the University of Toronto. “It is the ultimate lonely hearts club. No one understands how tough it is to have the top job except the peers with the top job in other countries.”

While Trump has met all of the leaders one on one, this will be the first time all seven are around the same table, including also newcomers Emmanuel Macron of France, Theresa May of Britain and the Italian host, Paolo Gentiloni – forging a new dynamic after a year of global political turmoil amid rising nationalism.

Climate policy promises to be the real buzzkill at the G7 party. Endorsing measures to combat terror is expected to find easy agreement, especially after the attack on an English pop music concert killed 22 people Monday night. But some of the trust that fuels such meetings was undermined by a leak of British intelligence in the Manchester attack blamed on a U.S. official, prompting the Britain to decide not to share further intelligence in the case. Trump is also going against the grain on trade with more protectionist stand.

His pending review of U.S. climate policies and decision not to make up his mind before Taormina has braced environmentalists for the possibility of bland language that says little after years of increasingly stronger commitments to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and emissions of in greenhouse gases under the Paris Agreement.

“What we do not want to see is a false compromise on nothing,” said Tobias Muenchmeyer, a political expert for Greenpeace. “We want to see determination and commitment over unity,” with the other partners going ahead without the United States.

Trump’s attempts to impose a U.S. travel ban on some Muslim countries contrast with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s position that immigration is a source of strong, sustainable inclusive growth. Sicily is on the front lines in Europe’s migration crisis, the first landfall for most of the more than 180,000 migrants who arrived in Italy last year – and the reason the Italian government chose Sicily as the backdrop for this summit.

Kirton said Trump has demonstrated the ability to come to bilateral agreements, and it is possible that Taormina will yield deals for which he can claim credit at home. But his volatile style could upend even summit decisions.

“It is always possible the president will change his mind even before he lands in Washington and fire off some more tweets,” Kirton said.</s>TAORMINA, Italy (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's first trip abroad (all times local):

One is more than 20 years older than her husband. The other is more than 20 years younger than hers. One dressed casually in white jeans, a red sweater and wedged Espadrilles, while the other wore a floral applique designer jacket over a white dress and matching floral clutch.

Brigitte Macron and Melania Trump both cut elegant figures in their own, distinctive styles during events for spouses on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Taormina, Sicily.

The women greeting each other warmly when they met Friday at Catania's City Hall. Their husbands had shared a firm handshake when they met the day before.

The spouses were invited for an Italian aperitivo and lunch at the historic Elephants Palace that houses the city administration. The guests included German Chancellor Angela Merkel's husband, Joachim Sauer, who rarely joins his wife abroad, Shinzo Abe's wife, Akie Abe, and Italian host Paolo Gentiloni's wife, Emanuela Mauro.

Some of the spouses got a helicopter's eye view of Mount Etna, an active volcano near Catania, on their way from Taormina, but not Mrs. Trump, who arrived separately in her own minivan.

She also skipped a tour of a Baroque Benedictine monastery.

President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have agreed to "enhance" sanctions on North Korea, including targeting entities that support North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

That's according to a White House readout of the pair's meeting Friday ahead of the G-7 summit of wealthy nations.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently told a U.N. gathering that the U.S. would not hesitate to sanction other countries that support the North's illegal activities.

Trump and Abe also discussed counter-terror efforts in the wake of the Manchester concert attack.

Trump told reporters at the top of the meeting that North Korea is "a world problem" that "will be solved."

Leaders attending the Group of Seven summit were cheered and greeted by local residents in the hilltop Sicilian town of Taormina — a rarity for global summits where ordinary people are usually kept at long distances for security reasons.

Crowds lined the route as President Donald Trump and the other six G-7 leaders made their way from Taormina's famed ancient Greek theater to the five-star San Domenico Palace, where they were meeting, about a kilometer away. The leaders made a brief stop along the way to take in a breathtaking view of the sea below.

While most of the public was barred from entering a security red zone, residents of Taormina, a town of 11,000, were given credentials to wear around their necks giving them access to the leaders on their arrival.

There was a man who toted his groceries through the crowd, and two little girls in white T-shirts waving at the leaders as they passed.

Security precautions increased after clashes at the Genoa summit 16 years ago left one protester dead.

Germany is rejecting a U.S. official's assertion that efforts to combat climate change will harm economic growth.

White House economic adviser Gary Cohn told reporters on the flight to Sicily Thursday that, if it comes to a choice between measures to curtail global warming under the 2015 Paris climate accord and growing the U.S. economy, economic considerations would prevail.

He said, "If those things collide, growing our economy is going to win. "

Asked about the comments Friday, a spokesman for Germany's environment ministry said "we expressly don't share the view that protecting the climate harms economic growth."

Nikolai Fichtner said Germany sees protecting the climate as "a modernization program" for national economies." He said, "the key question is whether one is part of this early on or not."

He also said Germany is lobbying "at all levels right now" for the U.S. to remain part of the Paris agreement.

A German government spokesman says trade surpluses like the one that's provoking Donald Trump's ire are the result of market factors and are "neither good nor bad."

Spokesman Georg Streiter didn't comment directly on a report that Trump called Germany "bad, very bad" on trade because of German companies' success selling goods such as cars in the U.S.

Streiter said in Berlin that Germany's current account surplus — the broadest measure of trade and investment flows — reflects economic factors that the German government can't directly do anything about.

He said it was "also caused by factors that cannot, or at least cannot directly, be influenced by economic or financial policy measures in Germany," including the price of oil price, the euro exchange rate and "structural factors such as demographic developments."

President Donald Trump is praising the Republican who won Montana's special House race Thursday for his "Great win in Montana."

Republican Greg Gianforte won his race despite having been charged with misdemeanor assault after allegedly slamming a reporter to the ground.

Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs said Gianforte "body slammed" him and broke his glasses at a Wednesday event/

Trump offered his comments during the G-7 summit it Sicily Friday.

Gianforte will fill the seat once held by Trump's Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Comments by President Trump on Germany's trade surplus with the United States are getting attention as leaders of seven wealthy democracies gather for difficult talks on trade and climate change.

Germany's Der Spiegel reported that Trump told European Union leaders in Brussels Thursday that Germans are "bad, very bad" on trade ahead of the Group of Seven summit in Taormina, Sicily. Trump was also quoted saying he wanted to reduce Germans car sales in the U.S.

White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said Friday that Trump did say Germans are "very bad on trade but he doesn't have a problem with Germany." He noted that Trump's father was born in Germany and said Trump had told the leaders, "I don't have a problem Germany, I have a problem with German trade."

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said the report was "exaggerated" and that Trump was "not aggressive" in his comments.

President Donald Trump says on Twitter that he's getting "ready to engage" his fellow G-7 leaders "on many issues including economic growth, terrorism, and security."

Trump offered two messages shortly after arriving at the G-7 summit of wealthy nations being held in the coastal city of Taormina, Sicily.

He's also touting his trip so far, describing it as "very successful." He says, "We made and saved the USA many billions of dollars and millions of jobs."

Trump is on the final stop of his first foreign trip, which has taken him to Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Vatican, Brussels and Italy.

President Donald Trump has arrived at his first G-7 summit in Italy.

Trump walked into an ancient Greek theater, shook hands with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and made a little small talk with his fellow heads of state as they posed for a group photo in Taormina, Sicily.

Trump then hopped in a golf cart for a short ride through the narrow streets of the hilltop town en route to a set of meetings, saying "Hello, everybody" to onlookers as he drove past.

The chairman of the European Union's council says there is "no doubt that this will be the most challenging G-7 summit in years."

President Donald Trump's positions on the hot-button issues of climate change, trade and migration stand in contrast to many European leaders. And they threaten to throw a summit of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies off its consensus game.

European Council President Donald Tusk says that leaders "sometimes have very different views" on topics such as climate change and trade. He says the European Union's goal is to maintain the unity of the G-7 on "all fronts," most importantly "defending the rules-based international order."

He also says he agrees with Trump that the international community should be "tough, even brutal" on terrorism and the Islamic State group.

Tusk spoke at the start of a meeting of the Group of Seven democracies in Taormina, Sicily.

President Donald Trump is declaring that North Korea is "a world problem" but says "it will be solved."

Trump met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday ahead of the G-7 summit in the Sicilian coastal city of Taormina, Italy.

The president said the men would discuss the situation with North Korea, which has repeatedly conducted missile tests, rattling its Pacific neighbors.

Trump said, "it will be solved, you can bet on that."

Abe became the latest world leader to publicly flatter Trump, saluting his visit to the Middle East and address to NATO on Thursday. He said they would discuss economic issues and also joked that, unlike their last meeting in Florida, the two men would not be able to play golf this time.

Trump is spending two days at the G-7, the final stop on his maiden international trip.

President Donald Trump is in Taormina, Italy for a series of meetings with fellow Group of Seven wealthy nation leaders.

Trump is set to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before participating in a welcome ceremony and reception with follow G-7 leaders.

In the afternoon, he'll participate in a luncheon and working sessions, before joining first lady Melania Trump at a performance of the La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra at the ancient Greek Theatre of Taormina.

The president and first lady will finish off the second-last day of Trump's first official trip abroad attending a dinner hosted by Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

The G-7 includes the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

President Donald Trump has faced a much cooler reception in Europe than the welcome he received in the Middle East.

The leaders of Saudi Arabia and Israel seemed in competition to outdo the other with the warmth of their welcomes. Not so in Europe as Trump met with other NATO leaders and appeared eager to go on the offensive.

Trump has publicly scolded some of America's most loyal allies for not paying their fair share of NATO's defense initiatives. He's also refused to explicitly back their mutual defense agreement.

Trump now arrives in Sicily for the final leg of a nine-day, five-stop marathon, a G-7 economic meeting. He is likely to be received warily, but the White House says the president has made personal breakthroughs with his peers.</s>(TAORMINA, Italy) — President Donald Trump's views on climate change are "evolving" following discussions with European leaders who are pushing for him to stay in the Paris climate accord, a top White House official said Friday.

"He feels much more knowledgeable on the topic today," said Gary Cohn, Trump's top White House economic adviser. "He came here to learn, he came here to get smarter."

European leaders have used Trump's stops on the continent this week, including at the Group of 7 meeting in Sicily, to launch a last-ditch campaign for Trump to stay in the climate accord. Nearly 200 nations agreed to the 2015 pact aimed at reducing carbon emissions.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Trump at length about the climate deal during a meeting Thursday in Brussels. At the Vatican earlier in the week, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin made his own pro-Paris pitch to Trump and his advisers. The matter was also a central focus of Trump's two days of talks at the Group of 7 summit, which kicked off Friday on the picturesque Sicilian coast.

At the close of Friday's talks, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said six of the G-7 nations — Italy, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan — confirmed "our commitment and our determination" to the Paris agreement. The United States, meanwhile, confirmed "a period of reflection" on the issue, Gentiloni said.

The White House's slow decision-making on the future of the landmark 2015 climate change agreement created the opening for the European leaders' persuasion campaign. Multiple White House meetings on the matter were delayed in recent weeks, and Trump advisers ultimately said he would not make a decision until after he returns to Washington from a nine-day, five-stop international trip.

As a candidate, Trump vowed to withdraw the U.S. from the accord, which was negotiated during the Obama administration. But as the opening months of his presidency have shown, Trump can be moved to change his positions and can be heavily influenced by other world leaders. He backed away from his tough campaign talk about trade with China after a summit with President Xi Jinping and abandoned his criticism of Saudi Arabia's human rights record following his warm welcome in the desert kingdom earlier this week.

Cohn said Trump was struck during his discussions Friday by "how important it is for the United States to show leadership." He said many of the European leaders noted that even if a hundred countries are parties to an agreement, there's "a big gap when you take the biggest economy out."

In Washington, discussions over the climate deal have sown divisions within the White House, splitting the nationalists and the globalists competing for influence within Trump's administration. One potential compromise that's emerged in the White House discussions involves staying in the climate accord, but adjusting the U.S. emissions targets.

Cohn hinted at that prospect as he briefed reporters Thursday night as Air Force One flew from Brussels to Sicily, the final stop on Trump's trip.

"The last levels we put out in the Paris agreement were levels that would be constraining to our economic growth," Cohn said. "But then you get into the whole discussion on Paris, is it non-binding, is it not non-binding, can you change your levels, how easy is it to change your levels."

In a striking comment given Trump's support during the campaign for American coal miners, Cohn also said "coal doesn't even really make that much sense anymore as a feedstock." He singled out natural gas as "such a cleaner fuel" and also noted that the U.S. could become a "manufacturing powerhouse" by investing in wind and solar energy.

Nearly 200 countries are part of the Paris accord and each set their own emissions targets, which are not legally binding. The U.S. pledged to reduce its annual greenhouse gas emissions in 2025 by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels, which would be a reduction of about 1.6 billion tons of annual emissions.

A senior French official said Macron and Trump spoke at length about the Paris agreement — at Macron's behest — when they met for lunch Thursday. There was no "disagreement" over the accord itself, the official said, but there were "differences" about how to apply it.

Macron, the newly elected French president, was critical of Trump's threats to pull out of the Paris deal during his own campaign. In a dig at Trump, he invited American climate scientists who felt alienated by the Republican administration to come to France to work.

Even Pope Francis, who has framed climate change as an urgent moral crisis and blamed global warming on an unfair, fossil fuel-based industrial model that harms the poor the most, appeared to be sending a message to Trump. Among the three documents the pope presented Trump as a gift was his 2015 encyclical on the need to protect the environment.

It's unclear if the pope pressed Trump specifically on the Paris accord in their private meeting. But Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state, did make a direct appeal in a broader meeting with the president and his top aides.

"They were encouraging continued participation in the Paris accord," U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said. "We had a good exchange on the difficulty of balancing climate change, responses to climate change and ensuring that you still have a thriving economy, you still offer people jobs so they can feed their families and have a prosperous economy. That's a difficult balancing act."</s>The differences are well-known: climate change, trade and migration threaten to throw a summit of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies off its consensus game, with U.S. President Donald Trump cast as the spoiler-in-chief. But it may not play out exactly that way, according to long-time G7 observers.

"It is a forum made for Donald Trump's particular style. It is highly informal, highly interactive and they speak in very colloquial language to each other," said John Kirton, director of the G7 Research Group at the University of Toronto. "It is the ultimate lonely hearts club. No one understands how tough it is to have the top job except the peers with the top job in other countries."

While Trump has met all of the leaders one on one, this will be the first time all seven are around the same table, including also newcomers Emmanuel Macron of France, Theresa May of Britain and the Italian host, Paolo Gentiloni — forging a new dynamic after a year of global political turmoil amid rising nationalism.

Climate policy promises to be the real buzzkill at the G7 party. Endorsing measures to combat terror is expected to find easy agreement, especially after the attack on an English pop music concert killed 22 people Monday night. But some of the trust that fuels such meetings was undermined by a leak of British intelligence in the Manchester attack blamed on a U.S. official, prompting the Britain to decide not to share further intelligence in the case. Trump is also going against the grain on trade with more protectionist stand.

His pending review of U.S. climate policies and decision not to make up his mind before Taormina has braced environmentalists for the possibility of bland language that says little after years of increasingly stronger commitments to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and emissions of in greenhouse gases under the Paris Agreement.

"What we do not want to see is a false compromise on nothing," said Tobias Muenchmeyer, a political expert for Greenpeace. "We want to see determination and commitment over unity," with the other partners going ahead without the United States.

Trump's attempts to impose a U.S. travel ban on some Muslim countries contrast with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's position that immigration is a source of strong, sustainable inclusive growth. Sicily is on the front lines in Europe's migration crisis, the first landfall for most of the more than 180,000 migrants who arrived in Italy last year — and the reason the Italian government chose Sicily as the backdrop for this summit.

Kirton said Trump has demonstrated the ability to come to bilateral agreements, and it is possible that Taormina will yield deals for which he can claim credit at home. But his volatile style could upend even summit decisions.

"It is always possible the president will change his mind even before he lands in Washington and fire off some more tweets," Kirton said.
The meeting of Group of 7 leaders in Taormina, Italy, concludes with a disagreement on whether to uphold the Paris Agreement; U.S. President Donald Trump is the only leader not to confirm commitment to the agreement, due to his climate change denial.