Donald Trump’s influence is already producing behind-the-scenes controversy as Group of 20 discussions begin here this week. One of Trump’s main global allies objected to a joint leaders’ statement, which diplomats viewed as an attempt to win favor with the incoming administration.
According to two diplomats familiar with the matter, Argentine President Javier Milei, who last week became the first world leader to meet with Trump since his election, has threatened to block a final communiqué over language related to ultra-rich taxation and gender issues.
While it is not uncommon for leaders’ summits to include some back-and-forth over a final statement, Milei’s roadblocks were seen as unusual by diplomats because Argentina had already agreed to a declaration about taxing the ultra-rich over the summer, only to reverse it after Trump was elected president.
It was just one example of Trump’s lengthy shadow thrown over a pair of world leader summits held in South America this week. Even as President Joe Biden works throughout his final big meetings to promote American leadership and solidify his legacy, leaders are looking ahead to the next president.
According to diplomats, Trump’s surprising selections for important Cabinet posts last week were a dominant topic of conversation in private back-hallway conversations among delegations at the APEC summit in Peru, particularly the appointment of former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to lead US intelligence services and Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon.
“Everyone was talking about the new cast of characters,” one Asian diplomat remarked after the summit concluded.
And, while Trump did not come up directly during Biden’s discussions with the leaders of Japan, South Korea, and Peru, White House sources say his return was hinted at during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s opening statements during his final summit with Biden on Saturday.
“China is ready to work with the new U.S. administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation, and manage differences,” Xi said as his meeting with Biden began.
Biden, who spoke with Trump for two hours in the Oval Office before heading to Lima, has been unable to provide any specifics about the new administration’s plans.
“The incoming administration is not in the business of providing us with assurances about anything, and they’ll make their own decisions as they go forward,” Biden’s national security advisor Jake Sullivan said Saturday following the meeting with Xi.
Still, for leaders wondering what the next four years will bring, the fight over the final G20 statement may provide some insight.
Officials in Rio said Milei had been emboldened by Trump’s election and was attempting to create the framework for a new center of power among like-minded leaders even before Trump took office.
Brazilian officials were attempting to reconcile their disagreements ahead of the summit’s opening, and it was possible that the communiqué might include Argentina’s resistance among the sections it would not sign onto.
However, many of those engaged in the negotiations believed that colored global leader summits during Trump’s first presidency were likely to return.
“You can already see the Trump effect taking hold,” a Western official said as the summit began. “Conservatives like Milei want to form an alliance with him before he even takes office. It’s a glimpse of what the next four years will be like.
Biden was set to attend an event in Rio to tackle hunger and poverty, and he is anticipated to make fresh US climate and development pledges, but many of his fellow leaders already consider them as symbolic steps that would be quickly reversed by the new administration.
On Sunday, Biden conceded that his time in office was limited.
“It’s no secret that I’m leaving office in January,” Biden said after taking an airborne tour of the Amazon, where a two-year drought has resulted in wildfires and dry riverbeds. “I will leave my successor and my country a strong foundation to build on, if they choose to do so.”
Another official in Rio expressed fear that Trump’s probable exit from deals such as the Paris climate pact could motivate leaders like Milei to follow suit, causing huge divisions in the group.
“(The Ukraine war) is already pitting countries against each other,” the diplomat stated. Russia is a member of the G20, and many of the bloc’s members, notably those from the so-called Global South, have refused to join Western efforts to punish Moscow.
“Trump will only cause more divisions, and more divisions mean less leverage and less influence,” according to the official.
Speaking Monday morning, a top Biden aide acknowledged that countries were anticipating the transition in the United States. But he maintained that Biden was still commander in chief.
“We have a system, fundamentally, that’s predicated on one president at a time,” said Jon Finer, deputy national security adviser. “President Biden is that president, he will be handing off power in January, and it will be up to a new administration to decide what to do with it.”