New York Times: “For a day, at least, everyone was on their best behavior when the cameras were on, eager to present a show of bonhomie after so many previous meetings ended in discord. But behind the scenes at the annual gathering of some of the world’s leading powers, President Trump still found himself at odds with his counterparts on Sunday over issues like trade, climate change, North Korea, Russia and Iran.”

“Ever so gingerly, as if determined not to rouse the American’s well-known temper, the other Group of 7 leaders sought to nudge him toward their views on the pressing issues of the day, or at least register their differences — while making sure to wrap them in a French crepe of flattery, as they know he prefers.”

“It was far from clear the messages were received, or in any case at least welcome. Like other presidents, and perhaps even more so, Mr. Trump tends to hear what he wants to hear at settings like this, either tuning out contrary voices or disregarding them. Through hard experience, other leaders have concluded that direct confrontation can backfire, so they have taken to soft-pedaling disagreements.”

“As the summit entered its final day, there was little sign that Trump and other world leaders had reached anything nearing a consensus on thorny issues including trade, climate change, and how to deal with Iran, North Korea and Russia,” the Washington Post reports.

“Illustrating the growing divide between world leaders, the French all-but-abandoned efforts to craft a joint statement at the end of the summit, cognizant of how the United States is drifting further away from other nations on a growing number of issues.”

President Trump claimed that he’s not facing any pressure from his allies over the United States’ trade war with China that has left markets reeling and the G-7 allies concerned about a potential global recession, ABC News reports.

Said Trump: “I think they respect the trade war. So the answer is nobody’s told me that. Nobody would tell me that.”

“President Trump expressed a note of regret on Sunday that his trade war with China had spiraled into an international quagmire, answering ‘yes’ when a reporter asked if he had ‘second thoughts’ about his tactics,” the Washington Post reports.

“Asked if he was rethinking the way tensions had escalated between the two countries, Trump responded ‘Yeah, sure why not. Might as well. Might as well. I have second thoughts about everything.'”

“He also appeared to dramatically dial back his threat to force U.S. companies to stop doing business with China, something he had insisted he had the power to do despite international alarm.”

Later, Axios reports the White House walked back Trump’s comment: “The President was asked if he had ‘any second thought on escalating the trade war with China’. His answer has been greatly misinterpreted. President Trump responded in the affirmative – because he regrets not raising the tariffs higher.”