Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci on Monday described President Trump’s attendance at the Group of Seven (G-7) summit as an “unmitigated disaster.”
“He’s more or less been isolated by the other leaders. The French government brought in the Iranian foreign and finance ministers to discuss things without even letting the president of the United States know,” the now-vocal Trump critic said on CNN’s “New Day.”
“Again, his ‘American first’ strategy is becoming ‘America alone,’” Scaramucci concluded.
The president attended the summit with world leaders in Biarritz, France, amidst an escalating trade war between the U.S. and China.
Trump on Friday announced new tariffs on more than $500 billion in Chinese goods in response to China’s new tariffs on $75 billion in U.S. automotive parts, farm products and other goods.{mosads}
The president ignited deeper concerns about the health of the economy when he said he would “hereby order” American companies to cut ties with China without specifying under what authority he planned to do that.
“I’ve been saying for the last two weeks that he’s melting down at the core,” Scaramucci speculated about the president’s emotional state on CNN. “A couple more weeks like this, I think it is an unmitigated situation. You’ve got to get Republican leaders to come in and say the truth at some point.”
He pointed to Trump’s fiery tweets on Friday asking who is the biggest “enemy” to the United States, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell or Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Scaramucci also said international business leaders are taking note of Trump’s mixed signals.
“It’s complete irrationality and the markets know this and so the markets have lost patience,” Scaramucci said.
The president on Monday again shifted his tone on China, calling Xi a “great leader.”
“China called, last night, our top trade people and said, ‘Let’s get back to the table,’” Trump told reporters during a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi on the sidelines of the summit.
“So, we’ll be getting back to the table. And I think they want to do something. They’ve been hurt very badly, but they understand this is the right thing to do. And I have great respect for it. I have great respect for it. This is a very positive development for the world,” Trump continued.
CNN noted that it has been unable to confirm with Chinese officials that the call took place.