Germany joins world leaders to denounce 'depressing' Trump G-7 outburst

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International leaders continue to recoil from Trump’s irrational and petulant behavior at the G-7 summit in Quebec over the weekend, where he worked overtime to instigate a reckless trade crisis with America’s closest allies.

Hosted by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the leaders of the word’s most advanced economies — Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and Italy — got an up-close look at what Americans have been seeing every day for 17 months: a childish man who doesn’t understand the basic concepts of trade, diplomacy or economics, among others.

German leader Angela Merkel conceded it was “sobering and a little depressing” to watch Trump withdraw from the G-7 agreement via Twitter after leaving the summit early over the weekend.

Merkel follows a cavalcade of leaders who expressed shock and horror at Trump’s behavior.

French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that “International cooperation cannot depend on fits of anger or little words.”

Former Trudeau foreign policy adviser Roland Paris blasted Trump’s tirade, and called Trump “a pathetic little man-child.”

Former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt posted a G-7 photo of Trump and the other leaders, and captioned it, “Just tell us what Vladimir has on you. Maybe we can help,” referring to the widely held belief that Trump is trying to sabotage U.S. relations with longtime allies as some sort of warped favor to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The G-7 leaders, including Trump, seemed to have been able to paper over their difference and agree on a final statement of solidarity at the end of the weekend. But then Trump, via Twitter, had a meltdown, lashing out at Trudeau, claiming to be offended by comments the Canadian leader made at a summit-ending press conference.

But that certainly seems like a concocted cover story stitched together to explain Trump’s irrational behavior, since nothing Trudeau said at the press conference would warrant Trump’s erratic actions.

It seems obvious that Trump simply didn’t have the guts to confront the G-7 leaders in person, so he waited until after he left to lash out at them under the guise of being upset at Trudeau.

Meanwhile, the international condemnation of Trump’s childish behavior actually dovetails with what has already been a chorus of criticism joined even by Republican members of Congress, who have called Trump’s trade war policy pure folly.

Added the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page, “If Mr. Trump has some grand trade strategy, it isn’t apparent.”