Analysis: Trump's domestic drama could overshadow G7 amid feud with Elon Musk

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s domestic drama threatens to overshadow a coming G7 summit, and a recent meeting with the German chancellor — with quips about World War II — suggests awkward moments could overtake the confab in Canada, which Trump has proposed making the “51st state.”

The question of how much German militarization should be allowed is typically an unspoken white elephant in the Oval Office when a chancellor pays a visit. Not so when Trump is the U.S. leader seated beside his German counterpart.

“I know that you’re spending more money on defense now and quite a bit more money, and that’s a positive thing. I’m not sure that Gen. (Douglas) MacArthur would have said it’s positive. He wouldn’t like it, but I sort of think it’s good,” Trump said during a Thursday meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, appearing to joke about the reluctance among other countries to allow Germany to rearm after the two world wars.

The historian-in-chief wasn’t finished.

“(McArthur) made a statement: ‘Never let Germany re-arm.’ ... I always think about that when he says, ‘Sir, we’re spending more money on defense.’ I say, ‘Oh, is that a good thing or a bad thing? I think it’s a good thing,’” Trump added. “At least to a certain point. There’ll be a point where they’ll say, ‘Please don’t arm anymore, if you don’t mind.’”

The awkwardness then reached a crescendo when Trump offered something of a warning to Merz: “We’ll be watching him.”

The still-new German leader stiffened as the president spoke, managing a faint chuckle.

The exchange was quickly drowned out by Trump’s criticism of tech megabillionaire Elon Musk, the former head of his Department of Government Efficiency office, which set off an afternoon spat and one of the biggest American political breakups in some time. As the accusations flew on social media, Trump threatened that he could end Musk’s federal contracts and said the SpaceX CEO had been “wearing thin” on him, while Musk accused the president of “ingratitude” and signaled support for impeaching him.

Still, Trump’s willingness to bring up with Merz a still-sore subject in a typically choreographed diplomatic setting was a reminder that his antics could upend the June 15-17 G7 summit, with his domestic drama likely to follow him to Kananaskis, Alberta.

While his six G7 counterparts want to focus on ending his trade war and finding a path toward a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, Trump showed Thursday that he could hijack the agenda with one statement or social media post.

“Look, Trump is going to be Trump. That’s just a fact. We saw that again … with Elon. When the president feels backed into a corner or unfairly attacked, he’s going to come back and come back hard,” said a GOP strategist with ties to Trump world, granted anonymity to be candid.

“Trump ran on prosperity and security. So if he sees anyone trying to undercut that or getting in the way, he’s just not going to take it,” the strategist added.

That means if he takes umbrage with something another G7 leader says during the three-day confab, fireworks could ensue.

But Trump’s No. 2 used a Friday social media post to contend that the president’s penchant for a fight, when he deems one necessary, should not be interpreted as him having a short fuse that could be dangerous with the nuclear codes tucked into his suit jacket pocket.

“There are many lies the corporate media tells about President Trump. One of the most glaring is that he’s impulsive or short-tempered. Anyone who has seen him operate under pressure knows that’s ridiculous,” Vice President JD Vance wrote on X. “It’s (maybe) the single biggest disconnect between fake media perception and reality.”

One Senate Democrat who closely tracks global affairs said Trump’s dramatics can be exhausting and distract from other things the president and his congressional GOP allies are pushing legislatively.

“The only story that matters is what he’s trying to do to my constituents right now, taking health care away from hundreds of thousands of people in Connecticut, sending kids to an early grave,” said Connecticut Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee and the State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee.

Murphy was referring to the sprawling budget reconciliation measure the House sent to the Senate last month. Democrats contend it would strip or shrink a number of health care-related programs on which many Americans depend. Some Democrats have also pointed to independent scoring of the measure to claim it would recklessly drive up the federal deficit.

“He’s lighting the debt on fire, sending our country into a recession. So right now we have a killer bill before the United States Senate that we have to stop,” Murphy added. “So I would say that the vast majority of my energy is dedicated to stopping that.”

While the president’s drama with Musk appeared to have quieted down on Friday, it could still follow him to Canada, where Trump is likely to face questions from reporters about Musk’s lucrative dealings with the federal government.

To that end, a White House official on Friday said there was no effort by the administration to examine terminating some or all of the many government contracts Musk’s companies have.

Trump and his aides are focused on passing Republicans’ budget reconciliation measure, “and anything else would be a distraction from doing that,” said the official, granted anonymity to be frank. Musk did request a telephone conversation with Trump to try to mend fences, according to the official, who said the president declined.

Asked if Trump and Musk were done for good, the official replied, “I wouldn’t say that.”