With Merkel Gone, Canada’s Trudeau Wants to Be ‘Dean’ of G-7
- Canadian leader offered to help U.K., EU with Brexit dispute
- He may be longest serving leader but seen to lack gravitas
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With Angela Merkel preparing to exit the international stage, the longest-serving leader of the Group of Seven is Canada’s Justin Trudeau. While he is positioning himself as the new elder statesman, no one sees him owning the role in the way the German chancellor did.
Joe Biden has decades of experience, even if he’s new to the U.S. presidency. France’s Emmanuel Macron has aggressively positioned himself as Merkel’s heir in Europe (she will step down after an election in September) and Italy’s Mario Draghi, with his years running the European Central Bank, is used to being heard wherever he goes.