Feisty Donald Trump sets tone as stormy G20 looms

Donald Trump

Osaka: US President Donald Trump set the tone Thursday for what promises to be a stormy G20 summit by lashing out at friends and foes alike over trade tariffs and foreign policy.

The long-running US-China trade war looked set to dominate the two-day meeting of world leaders in Osaka from Friday but clashes also loomed over climate and hotspots including North Korea and Iran. On board Air Force One en route Japan, Trump fired off a characteristically bullish tweet, chiding long-standing ally India for "unacceptable" tariffs on American goods.

"India, for years having put very high tariffs against the United States, just recently increased the tariffs even further. This is unacceptable and the tariffs must be withdrawn," tweeted Trump.

The US president had earlier taken aim at China, saying Beijing wanted to do a deal because the world's number-two economy was "going down the tubes". Furious at what he sees as an unfair advantage in the trading system, Trump has already hit Beijing with $200 billion in levies on Chinese imports and appeared to threaten more.

"You have another $325 billion that I haven't taxed yet - it's ripe for taxing, for putting tariffs on," he said in an interview with Fox Business Network. He is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping Saturday.

'None of your business'
Tensions with Tehran are at fever pitch after Trump pulled back from military action at the last minute in response to the downing of an unmanned US drone.

Iran will be one of several topics when Trump meets his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. "I'll have a very good conversation with him," Trump told reporters at the White House. "What I say to him is none of your business."

"Confrontation tends to attract attention... but Japan, as the chair, hopes to find common ground rather than differences in opinions," said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he left Tokyo for Osaka.

Hitting out one-by-one
But tensions over the final statement on climate change are likely to burst into the open, with a German source saying it was "particularly difficult this year" to reach agreement. Trump appeared in no mood for compromise, hitting out at traditional allies one-by-one, even his hosts. He described Vietnam as the "single worst abuser" on trade, lashed Germany as "delinquent" on funding contributions to NATO, and mocked Japan, which has been under a US military umbrella since World War II.

"If Japan is attacked, we will fight World War III. We will go in and protect them with our lives and with our treasure," he said. "But if we're attacked, Japan doesn't have to help us. They can watch it on a Sony television."

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