Trump cancels June G7 meeting at Camp David over coronavirus

U.S. President Donald Trump willcancel an in-person meeting of G7 leaders at Camp David in Junebecause of the coronavirus and will hold a videoconferenceinstead, the White House said on Thursday.

The decision comes as nations around the world seal theirborders and ban travel to stop the virus' spread.

Trump held a videoconference with the leaders of the world'smajor industrialized countries earlier this week and plans torepeat that in April, May and June, when the physical meeting atthe presidential retreat in Maryland was scheduled to takeplace.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, who also servesas Trump's G7 "sherpa," has informed his counterparts about themove.

"In order for each country to focus all of its resources onresponding to the health and economic challenges of COVID-19 andat President Trump's direction, National Economic CouncilDirector and U.S. Sherpa for the 2020 G7 Larry Kudlow hasinformed his Sherpa colleagues that the G7 Leaders'Summit theU.S. was set to host in June at Camp David will now be done byvideo-teleconference," White House spokesman Judd Deere said ina statement to Reuters.

"The White House also informed the other G7 members that in order to continue close coordination, the President will convenethe Leaders via video teleconference in April and May just ashe did this week,"he said.

The White House views the change as part of mitigationefforts to fight the virus. Countries normally send largedelegations with their leaders to G7 summits and journalistsfrom around the world convene to cover their meeting as well.

Trump had intended to focus the G7 meeting on the economy,eschewing traditional topics that often top the agenda such asclimate change. He initially planned to host the leaders' groupat one of his properties in Florida but cancelled those plansafter criticism that he would profit financially from themeeting.

The G7 is made up of the United States, Canada, Italy, Japan, France, Germany, Britain as well as the European Union.Trump irritated Europe by instituting a travel ban on itscitizens without first alerting European leaders. Europe hasbecome the epicenter of the coronavirus.