Trump says he may host G7 meeting at Camp David in-person rather than by conference call

President Donald Trump will soon decide whether to host the upcoming G7 meeting in-person after all, despite the continuing coronavirus pandemic, according to a White House official.

On Wednesday Mr Trump tweeted: “Now that our Country is ‘Transitioning back to Greatness’, I am considering rescheduling the G-7, on the same or similar date, in Washington DC, at the legendary Camp David. The other members are also beginning their COMEBACK. It would be a great sign to all — normalisation!”

Mr Trump is serious about the proposal and has been considering it for a few days, the official said, according to CNN. He raised the idea with French president Emmanuel Macron, during a call on Wednesday morning. Mr Macron was last year’s G7 president.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would need to see what measures the US proposed to keep people safe before committing to an in-person summit, but thinks it is important that leader level summits continue.

“We had a G7 leaders virtual meeting a few weeks ago, where we talked about this important situation we’re in, and we’re going to need to keep talking about not just how we get through this Covid-19 pandemic, but how we restore the global economy to its rightful activities,” he said.

However, leaders will also have to question the optics of heading off to an international summit as their countries continue to grapple with Covid-19.

Organising a G7 meeting typically takes a host nation months of planning, so a quick decision will be needed by officials if the event will still take place in June as scheduled. Planning for the event was halted in March after Mr Trump decided to host the event virtually.

Originally scheduled for 10-12 June, it is thought that if it were to be an in-person event it would be pushed back towards the end of the month.

Other considerations would include limiting the size of delegations and minimising unnecessary interaction between visiting groups.

With travel bans in place between the US and most of the participating nations — Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Japan — presumably waivers would be needed to allow delegations to enter the country and not have to quarantine.

The president had originally wanted to host world leaders at his Doral golf course near Miami, but was persuaded against the idea when ethics issues were raised.

Prior to the onset of the pandemic, Mr Trump was said to be no fan of Camp David, located in Maryland, 60 miles from DC, but given the restrictions imposed on his travel, he has begun to spend weekends at the resort and appears to now appreciate his time there.

President Barack Obama held the 2012 meeting at the presidential retreat, but former Trump White House chief-of-staff Mick Mulvaney was particularly dismissive of the idea of hosting the meeting there again when it was originally suggested. He described it as “way too small” and “way too remote”.

Both would appear to now be great selling points in the midst of a global pandemic.