CNN —
While visiting Canada on Monday for a Group of 7 summit, President Donald Trump repeated one of his many false claims about Canada – again wrongly blaming former Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for getting Russia booted out of the group formerly known as the Group of 8.
Speaking of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump claimed Monday: “He was thrown out – by Trudeau, who convinced one or two people, along with Obama. He was thrown out. And he’s not a happy person about it, I can tell you that.”
In fact, Trudeau did not become Canada’s prime minister until November 2015 – more than 19 months after Russia’s 2014 ouster from the Group of 8, a forum made up of countries with large industrialized economies. It was Trudeau’s Conservative predecessor as prime minister, Stephen Harper, who led the effort to kick Russia out in the wake of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region. Trudeau’s Liberals were not even the biggest opposition party in Canada’s House of Commons at the time.
Trump made the false claim while standing beside Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trudeau’s successor as Liberal leader.
Trump made a similar false claim about Trudeau during an exchange with reporters at the White House in May, incorrectly saying of Russia’s removal from the Group of 8: “I thought it was a very bad decision. It was headed by Trudeau, by the way, and Obama. They were the ones that really fought hard to get Russia out.”
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