At the G7 summit in Canada, President Donald Trump reignited a long-standing debate over Russia\u2019s expulsion from the elite group of global economic powers. Speaking before reporters, Trump laid blame for the ongoing war in Ukraine not just on Russian President Vladimir Putin, but on what he called a serious misstep by Western leaders more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This was a big mistake,” Trump said. “You wouldn’t have that war.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump specifically pointed the finger at former President Barack Obama and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for pushing Russia out of what was then the G8. Russia was suspended in 2014 following its annexation of Crimea, a move that was condemned by most of the international community. But Trump argued that removing Russia from the diplomatic table only deepened divisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe wasn’t really an enemy at that time,\u201d Trump said. \u201cYou have your enemy at the table\u2026 That\u2019s how you keep the peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s central message was clear: engagement prevents escalation. He emphasized that, had Russia remained part of the G8, the world might have avoided the war in Ukraine altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf I were president, this war would have never happened,\u201d Trump insisted. \u201cAnd you wouldn’t have a war right now if he were a member of what was called the G8.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former president added that Putin had taken the expulsion personally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPutin speaks to me; he doesn’t speak to anybody else,\u201d Trump said. \u201cHe was very insulted when he got thrown out of the G8. And I mean, he was thrown out by Trudeau, who convinced one or two people along with Obama. He basically doesn\u2019t even speak to the people who threw him out. And I agree with him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s comments struck a chord with many of his supporters, who believe his ability to maintain relationships with powerful – and even adversarial – leaders is one of his strengths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe keeps his enemies close, and that\u2019s what leadership is about,\u201d said Mark Bradley, a political strategist aligned with Trump\u2019s camp. \u201cYou can\u2019t influence someone you\u2019ve cut off. Trump knows diplomacy isn\u2019t about liking someone. It\u2019s about managing them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Others pointed to Trump\u2019s record with North Korea, China, and NATO, where he often pursued unconventional but sometimes effective engagement strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not everyone agreed with Trump’s assessment. Critics argue that Trump is oversimplifying a complex geopolitical situation and excusing Putin\u2019s aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRussia annexed Crimea and destabilized Eastern Ukraine,\u201d said former NATO ambassador Ivo Daalder. \u201cThat\u2019s why they were removed. To pretend keeping Putin in the G8 would have prevented this war is na\u00efve at best.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matthew Goodman from the Council on Foreign Relations added that Trump’s openness to including not just Russia but even China in the G7 would dilute the group’s mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe G7 has always been a forum for liberal democracies,\u201d Goodman said. \u201cTrump\u2019s suggestion to invite authoritarian states undermines that core principle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has never shied away from the idea of dealing with world leaders that others consider too difficult or too dangerous. At the summit, he even floated the idea of including China in a possible expansion of the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a bad idea,\u201d Trump said. \u201cYou want to have people that you can talk to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That notion encapsulates Trump\u2019s broader foreign policy approach: he sees influence not through isolation but through interaction, even with adversaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney noted during the summit, \u201cThe G7 is nothing without U.S. leadership.\u201d Trump, in turn, is showing what that leadership looks like\u2014at least in his view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether one sees his outreach as pragmatic diplomacy or reckless friendliness, Trump\u2019s comments have reopened a conversation about whether keeping adversaries in the room might, sometimes, be the best way to keep them from picking up a weapon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NP Editor:<\/strong> It is true that Putin attacked Ukraine to maintain his warm water military base, it is strategic real estate too valuable to lose. But there are a dozen other ways he could have kept it, should the lines of communication have stayed open.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Mistake That Opened the Door to War At the G7 summit in Canada, President Donald Trump reignited a long-standing debate over Russia\u2019s expulsion from the elite group of global economic powers. Speaking before reporters, Trump laid blame for the ongoing war in Ukraine not just on Russian President Vladimir Putin, but on what he called a serious misstep by Western leaders more than a decade ago. “This was a big mistake,” Trump said. “You wouldn’t have that war.” Trump […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,15,22,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-european-politics","category-nato","category-trump","category-ukraine-russia-war"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/putingasdafdsf.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6199"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6201,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6199\/revisions\/6201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}