G20 summit: The highlights

Working breakfast with Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macronhttps://t.co/FaUOgeMnrM#g20 #G20HAM17 pic.twitter.com/lhVXK2bfsK

— Vladimir Putin (@PutinRF_Eng) July 8, 2017

Late into the night on Thursday and Friday the acrid smell of smoke and tear gas hung in the area as police sirens screamed and helicopters thundered overhead.

The protestors managed to confine the US First Lady to her guesthouse on Friday, slashed the car tyres of the Canadian delegation and delayed other dignitaries.

Bild, the influential German daily, called it a “debacle” for Merkel. Trump though praised the chancellor for a “fantastic job”.

– ‘America First’ –

Within the summit, Trump’s “America First” strategy to protect US companies from outside competition caused divisions with traditional Western allies.

This necessitated a compromise in the final summit statement which committed G20 members to combating protectionism but also permits “legitimate trade defence instruments”.

On climate change too, the other 19 had to make room for Trump following his announcement on June 1 of a withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 Paris climate accord.

The final communique said that G20 members “take note” of this decision and also gave the green light for the US to be able to continue to export and promote fossil fuels.

The US “will endeavour to work closely with other countries to help them access and use fossil fuels more cleanly and efficiently and help deploy renewable and other clean energy sources, given the importance of energy access and security in their nationally-determined contributions,” the statement said.