'America First' proves to be an immovable object at G-20

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Still bristling over Mr. Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, one French official said that an aim in drafting the joint statement was to ensure that the U.S. “is clearly identified as being alone.”

If anything, Mr. Trump’s two forays overseas have shown that some leaders are bending toward his positions, not the reverse.

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The statement, for example, carried language about America helping other countries use “fossil fuels more cleanly and efficiently.” A European Union official conceded the reference to “these kind of energy sources is not something we like.”

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“We got language in there that is consistent with the speech the president gave when he announced the decision to withdraw from the Paris accord,” one senior White House official said Saturday.

So it went with trade.

Mr. Trump has long complained that past trade deals favored other nations at the expense of the U.S., resulting in large trade deficits. The final statement bore a distinctly Trumpian ring, stressing the importance of “reciprocal and mutually advantageous trade.”

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