Despite pandemic, Trump muses about resuming plan for in-person G7 meetings

Donald Trump is contemplating whether to resurrect plans to host G7 leaders at the Camp David presidential retreat next month.

The U.S. president tweeted Wednesday about holding the meeting on or near the original June 10-12 timeline at the famous rural retreat, which is in Maryland about an hour's drive north of the U.S. capital.

"Now that our Country is 'Transitioning back to Greatness,' I am considering rescheduling the G7, on the same or similar date, in Washington, D.C., at the legendary Camp David," Trump wrote.

"The other members are also beginning their COMEBACK. It would be a great sign to all — normalization!"

With the U.S. scheduled to play host to the annual G7 this year, the administration's original plan to host the gathering at the Trump-owned Doral golf resort in Miami was abandoned last fall after critics accused the president of seeking to profit off the meeting.

But the subsequent plan to move the meeting to Camp David was initially thwarted by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed support Wednesday for the notion of G7 leaders sharing ideas, even if he was noncommittal about meeting in person. The group did gather for a videoconference call last month, he noted before suggesting science and prudence should determine the best course of action going forward.

"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," Trudeau said.

"We'll certainly take a look at what the U.S. is proposing as host of the G7 to see what kind of measures will be in place to keep people safe, what kind of recommendations the experts are giving in terms of how that might function."

Security experts, however, say it's hard to believe an in-person meeting in June would be feasible.

"I don't, nor do I think many other leaders would come," said Brett Bruen, a former diplomat and White House adviser under former president Barack Obama.