登上空军一号-总统唐纳德·特朗普他说，尽管冠状病毒大流行仍在继续，但他将推迟到秋季在白宫举行他计划下月举行的七国集团会议。他说他打算邀请俄罗斯，澳大利亚、韩国和印度为他再次主张的集团的扩张。
特朗普在从佛罗里达返回华盛顿的空军一号上告诉记者，他觉得该组织目前的构成“非常过时”，不能恰当地代表“世界上正在发生的事情”
他说，他还没有为这次会议确定新的日期，但是他认为这次会议可以在9月份举行，大约在纽约联合国年会的时候，或者在美国之后选举十一月。
白宫战略传播主任阿里萨·法拉(Alyssa Farah)表示，特朗普希望引入美国的一些传统盟友和受冠状病毒影响的国家，来讨论中国的未来。
德国总理安格拉·默克尔的办公室周六表示，除非冠状病毒的传播过程发生变化，否则她不会出席此次会议，这是一个出人意料的消息。
世界主要经济体的领导人定于6月在美国马里兰州总统度假地戴维营会面，但冠状病毒的爆发阻碍了这些计划。特朗普在3月份宣布，由于流感大流行，他将取消峰会，而领导人将通过视频会议进行协商。但特朗普随后改变了路线，一周前表示，他再次计划主持一次面对面的会议。
特朗普在推特上写道:“现在我们的国家正在‘回归伟大’，我正在考虑将七国集团重新安排在同一天或相似的日子，在华盛顿特区传奇的戴维营。”。“其他成员也开始东山再起。这将是一切正常化的一个伟大标志！”
七国集团成员包括加拿大、法国、德国、意大利、日本、英国和美国。该组织的主席职位每年由成员国轮流担任。
特朗普一再主张将该集团扩大至包括俄罗斯这引起了一些成员的反对，包括加拿大的贾斯廷·特鲁多，他告诉记者，他已经私下表示反对俄罗斯重新接纳。
他在新闻发布会上表示:“俄罗斯尚未改变导致其在2014年被驱逐的行为，因此不应被允许重返七国集团。”。
众议院还在2019年12月通过了一项两党决议，支持俄罗斯此前被驱逐出年度会议。
自1997年以来，俄罗斯一直受邀参加全球最发达经济体的聚会，但在2014年入侵乌克兰和吞并克里米亚后，该活动暂停。
Trump calls for delay in Group of 7 meeting, seeks expansion
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE -- President Donald Trump said Saturday that he will postpone until the fall a meeting of Group of 7 nations he had planned to hold next month at the White House despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. And he said he plans to invite Russia, Australia, South Korea and India as he again advocated for the group's expansion.
Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he returned to Washington from Florida that he feels the current makeup of the group is “very outdated" and doesn't properly represent "what’s going on in the world.”
He said he had not yet set a new date for the meeting, but thought the gathering could take place in September, around the time of the annual meeting of the United Nations in New York, or perhaps after the U.S. election in November.
Alyssa Farah, White House director of strategic communications, said that Trump wanted to bring in some of the country's traditional allies and those impacted by the coronavirus to discuss the future of China.
The surprise announcement came after German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office said Saturday that she would not attend the meeting unless the course of the coronavirus spread had changed by then.
The leaders of the world’s major economies were slated to meet in June in the U.S. at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, but the coronavirus outbreak hobbled those plans. Trump announced in March he was canceling the summit because of the pandemic and that the leaders would confer by video conference instead. But Trump then switched course, saying a week ago that he was again planning to host an in-person meeting.
“Now that our Country is ‘Transitioning back to Greatness’, I am considering rescheduling the G-7, on the same or similar date, in Washington, D.C., at the legendary Camp David,” Trump tweeted. “The other members are also beginning their COMEBACK. It would be a great sign to all - normalization!”
The G7 members are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The group’s presidency rotates annually among member countries.
Trump has repeatedly advocated for expanding the group to include Russia, prompting opposition from some members, including Canada’s Justin Trudeau, who told reporters he had privately aired his objection to Russian readmittance.
“Russia has yet to change the behavior that led to its expulsion in 2014, and therefore should not be allowed back into the G7,” he said at a news conference.
The House also passed a bipartisan resolution in December 2019 that supports Russia’s previous expulsion from the annual gathering.
Russia had been invited to attend the gathering of the world’s most advanced economies since 1997, but was suspended in 2014 following its invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea.
