Was Trump's G-20 Trip A "Great Success"? NO!

(This photo of an isolated Trump at G-20 is by Felipe Trueba / EPA.)

Here is some of how Rachel Elbaum reported on Trump's trip for NBC News:

When President Donald Trump returned from his second trip to Europe in as many months, he presented his visit to the Group of 20 meeting in Hamburg as a "great success."

The outlook from this side of the Atlantic, however, was less enthusiastic, with Europeans viewing the American president as more isolated than ever. 

“Generally, Trump didn’t impress very many leaders on European side,” said Susi Dennison, director of the European Power program at the European Council on Foreign Relations. 

“If he did have a clear set of outcomes that he wanted to achieve at the meeting, it wasn’t evident that was accomplished.”

When President Donald Trump returned from his second trip to Europe in as many months, he presented his visit to the Group of 20 meeting in Hamburg as a "great success."

The outlook from this side of the Atlantic, however, was less enthusiastic, with Europeans viewing the American president as more isolated than ever. 

“Generally, Trump didn’t impress very many leaders on European side,” said Susi Dennison, director of the European Power program at the European Council on Foreign Relations. 

“If he did have a clear set of outcomes that he wanted to achieve at the meeting, it wasn’t evident that was accomplished.” . . .

Perhaps the largest area of discord at the summit was around the Paris Climate Change agreement, from which Trump withdrew the U.S. last month. He has vowed to negotiate new treaty terms for the U.S. that are more business friendly. 

The U.S. was the only country that did not reaffirm the G-20's support for international efforts to fight global warming. The statement released by the G-20 after the summit called the Paris climate accord "irreversible." 

Instead, recently elected French President Emmanuel Macron took the lead on climate change, announcing plans for a new international climate summit in December. 

The other major area of disagreement between Trump and Europe centered around free trade. Again it was Macron, who reportedly staunchly defended free trade, showing off his iPhone as evidence of its success. 

“While Europeans weren’t happy with Trump’s message, they now at least feel that they have a better sense of what his priorities are,” said Erik Brattberg, Director of the Europe Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. . . .

Perhaps unwittingly, Trump’s isolationist stance on key issues has united European leaders, who are now more determined to take the lead on their priorities. 

“It was important for all of the European states to show Trump that the EU is back as a force, and that Brexit hasn’t knocked it off course,” said Dennison. “The EU wanted to show that it intends to continue engaging in the international order as a defender of liberal western values and open globalist free trade.”