Donald Trump is about to make history by shaking hands with an adversary. Indeed, he will greet six of them at the same time. No breakthrough is likely.
Following the G7 summit, Mr Trump will fly to Singapore to meet Kim Jong Un. Expect a triumph. Peace will be declared on the Korean peninsular. Those who think I am joking should mute the sound and study the body language. Then decide for yourselves whose company Mr Trump prefers — America’s partners, or the most lethal autocrat on the planet. You can guess what a visiting Martian would say.
It is hard to decide which event — a failed “G6 plus one” summit in Canada or a successful one with North Korea — is more incredible. But the former wins. By uniting America’s largest allies against the US, Mr Trump has pulled off something unthinkable. The sheep are abandoning the shepherd. Without America, the G7 would not exist. It is the closest thing the west has to a steering committee. That is why China, which is the world’s second-largest economy, was never invited into the club. It was also why a westernising Russia was added to the group in 1998. But Russia was a black sheep. The group returned to seven after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.