GENEVA - U.S. President Donald Trump's participation in this year's Group of Seven summit in France has proved that he is not entirely distrustful of multilateral approaches to shared challenges.
With his counterparts from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, as well as the European Union, Trump addressed some of the most pressing issues of the moment, from the Iran war he launched nearly four months ago and Russia's invasion of Ukraine to cooperation on critical minerals and artificial intelligence.
In his closing press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Trump, who has a track record of leaving the G7's discussions early, described the summit as "extremely successful."
"I would say it's one of the most successful, and this meeting could not have come at a better time," said Trump, who was able to brief other G7 leaders on Washington's recent preliminary peace deal with Tehran.
Not only did he speak in favor of a possible multinational naval mission to safeguard shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, but he also agreed with the other leaders to tighten sanctions on Russia and reinforce Ukraine's air defenses, among many other points.
Trump's three days of interactions with them followed his revival, about a month earlier, of the idea of the United States and China forming a Group of Two, or a G2, when he traveled to Beijing for a highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The resurrection of the concept has amplified anxieties among U.S. allies and partners, especially those in Asia, which are more susceptible to China's growing influence, because it implies that the two powers will play a defining role in managing global and regional affairs.
Such nations fear that the United States and China could exclusively make important decisions and trade away their national interests in bilateral deals.
"President Trump prefers to reconfigure the international order through unilateral U.S. coercion," said Ali Wyne, senior research and advocacy adviser for U.S.-China relations at the International Crisis Group.
But, Wyne said, Trump has come to embrace the idea of "an informal G2," partly because he has gained a "more realistic appreciation of China's power to absorb and counter U.S. pressure."
On the one hand, Wyne said, U.S. allies and partners want to see the emergence of a "durable detente" as they cannot afford a fresh trade standoff between Washington and Beijing while struggling with the economic shocks from the wars in Ukraine and Iran.
On the other hand, U.S. allies worry that Trump "may subordinate their concerns to China's prerogatives, especially given his longstanding view that they are economic burdens more than strategic assets," Wyne argued.
Still, Trump's real motive for using the term remains unclear, including whether it amounts to a clear rejection of multilateral cooperation within the framework of the U.S.-led Western alliance, which has served as the linchpin of the rules-based post-World War II order.
Initially, Trump framed his earlier meeting with Xi in South Korea in late October as representing a G2 framework, in contrast to his description of the relationship between the two countries as "great power competition" during his first term in office.
This characterization, which reappeared in mid-May from Trump's second face-to-face talks with Xi since his return to the White House, signaled a break from his previous strategy toward Beijing that his predecessor, Joe Biden, had also endorsed.
Trump's comment in a TV interview during the Beijing trip that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan could be a "very good negotiating chip" in his dealings with China, along with his deference to Xi, raised further doubts about Washington's longtime security commitments to the region.
Against the backdrop of the changing dynamics in the U.S.-China relationship, the G7 summit took place in Evian-les-Bains, a French spa town on the southern shore of Lake Geneva.
Moreover, it happened at a time of tensions between the United States and Europe, with Trump repeatedly attacking NATO allies over disagreements about the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Trump has berated them for being reluctant to get involved in the conflict, deepening the fissure between him and major European leaders.
Trump and members of his administration have long been skeptical of Europe, frequently denigrating the continent as a "free rider" on U.S. military might.
They have signaled the United States' intent to step back from its pivotal role in the 32-member transatlantic military alliance.
But Trump was polite and amicable in communicating with the European leaders throughout the days in the Alpine resort, without any rancor emerging.
When he met the press following the close of the summit, Trump seemed unable to hide his delight at the G7 leaders' positive reception of the U.S.-Iran interim deal.
Furthermore, Trump thanked the Chinese president, saying Beijing had stayed "totally neutral" in the Iran war, which he said helped prevent the conflict from dragging on.
"President Trump has repeatedly expressed a hope and expectation that President Xi will be a good friend with whom he can solve big global challenges. Yet Xi has no intention of helping the United States achieve its goals on the international stage," said Henrietta Levin, a senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Levin, a China expert who previously held senior roles at the U.S. State Department and the White House, believes Beijing views the strain Trump's G2 approach puts on the U.S. alliance system as "a boon for Chinese power and influence."
Although the Trump administration has strengthened ties with some Indo-Pacific partners, she said, they are now "unsure whether the United States would prioritize the defense of allies or stability with China."
