France

BIARRITZ, France (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he wanted to see a strong Iran and was not seeking a change of leadership in Tehran, adding that the standard of living for ordinary Iranians was unacceptable.

“I’m looking at a really good Iran, really strong, we’re not looking for regime change. You’ve seen how that works over the last 20 years, that hasn’t been too good,” Trump told reporters during a summit of wealthy nation leaders.

BIARRITZ, France (AP) — President Donald Trump, under pressure to scale back a U.S.-China trade war partly blamed for a global economic slowdown, said Monday that the two sides will begin serious negotiations soon.

Trump said his trade negotiators had received two “very good calls” from China. He did not say when the calls were made and he declined to say whether he is in direct contact with President Xi Jinping.

Trump said the conversations were a sign that China is serious about making a deal following the latest tit-for-tat tariffs between them.

BIARRITZ, France (AP) — Injecting fresh uncertainty at a time of global economic jitters, President Donald Trump sent mixed messages Sunday on the U.S.-China trade war as leaders at a global summit pushed the unpredictable American president to ease frictions over tariffs and cooperate on other geopolitical challenges.

Trump’s head-snapping comments at the Group of Seven summit about his escalating trade fight with China — first expressing regret, then amping up tariff threats — represented just the latest manifestation of the hazards of the president’s go-it-alone mantra.

BIARRITZ /France/, August 25. /TASS/: G7’s leaders that are meeting in Biarritz, France, have discussed the issue of returning to the G8 format with Russia’s participation, Japan’s Kyodo News reported on Sunday.

A Japanese government official told the agency that the G7 leaders discussed the specified issue, but the contents of this discussion will not be disclosed.

During a telephone conversation on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, who chairs G7 now, agreed that Russia’s invitation to the G7 summit in 2020 would make sense.

BIARRITZ /France/, August 25. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin might attend the next G7 summit in the United States in 2020, the news agency Bloomberg reported on Sunday.

The US president made this statement ahead of his meeting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the G7 summit that is running in the French resort city of Biarritz, the news agency said.

According to Bloomberg, Trump said it is "certainly possible" that Putin is invited to the next G7 summit.

BIARRITZ, France (Reuters) - When President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he had second thoughts about escalating the trade war with China, he meant that he wished he had raised tariffs on Beijing even higher, the White House said.

Trump, who announced higher tariffs on Chinese goods last week, raised eyebrows during a meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the G7 when he responded in the affirmative to questions from reporters on whether he had any second thoughts about the tariff move.

BIARRITZ, France (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday that if Britain leaves the European Union without a deal, it will no longer legally owe the 39 billion pound divorce bill agreed by his predecessor Theresa May.

Earlier British media reported Johnson would use a meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk on the sidelines of the G7 Summit to set out that Britain would pay less than 10 billion pounds of the settlement if it leaves without a deal.

BIARRITZ, France (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday said he and President Donald Trump were “gung-ho” about a post-Brexit trade deal but cautioned the United States would be tough negotiators and that he would not rush talks.

Trump promised a big trade deal for Britain after it leaves the European Union, which he said had been a drag on Britain’s ability to cut a good deal.

BIARRITZ, France (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump insisted on Sunday that he was getting along well with leaders at a G7 summit in France, but rifts emerged with his Western allies on issues ranging from his trade war with China to Iran, North Korea and Russia.

The G7 gathering is taking place against a backdrop of worries about a global economic downturn and coincides with an era of international disunity across an array of matters.

BIARRITZ, France (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Sunday said he and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had agreed on the principles of a trade deal that would probably be signed next month in New York.

Trump’s Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the deal would open up markets to over $7 billion worth of goods and covered agriculture, industrial tariffs and digital trade.

The U.S. president said Abe agreed that Japan would buy excess U.S. corn. Abe said of the “potential” purchase of U.S. corn that such purchases would be carried out by the private sector.