Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has invited President Donald Trump to host next year’s meeting of leading industrial nations in Milwaukee.
In a letter to the president, dated Sunday, Barrett wrote hosting the 2020 Group of 7 meeting in Milwaukee “would be an opportunity to show the world America’s Fresh Coast — a Great Lakes city that is growing in this strong economy, reinventing itself through innovation and investment, and building on its established high quality of life.”
In the decades since the G-7 was organized, the United States has hosted meetings in a number of locations, but never in the Midwest. The G-7 brings together the leaders of the world’s biggest economies including Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
Trump came under bipartisan fire after the White House announced next year’s summit would take place at the president’s Doral golf resort outside of Miami. Trump announced he was dropping the plans immediately after. In a series of late-night tweets Saturday, the president blamed the reversal on “Media & Democrat Crazed and Irrational Hostility.”
Barrett said Wisconsin presents the “depth and diversity exemplified by a strong urban center in Milwaukee, thriving suburban communities, and rural areas that face economic challenges that are, at times, exacerbated by international trade issues.”
Wisconsin is not region dominated by one political party, and that offers some important lessons to share globally.
“If he wants to get out of Washington, D.C. and come to an area where trade issues, like Harley Davidson, and domestic issues, like dairy prices, are front and center, Milwaukee would be an excellent choice,” Barrett said Monday after an event.
A Special Assistant to the President in the White House Intergovernmental Affairs office acknowledged receipt of the Mayor’s invitation with the assurance it was being shared with the appropriate people in Washington. At the Mayor’s direction, his staff reached out to both the Wisconsin Center District and Visit Milwaukee to continue discussions about the possibility of hosting the G7 next year.
“I want world leaders to see how international trade practices can affect local economies like Milwaukee’s,” Mayor Barrett said. “Even more importantly, I want to tell Milwaukee’s story. We’re a community that is changing, reinventing our economy with innovation, investment, and technology.”
Milwaukee will host the Democratic National Convention from July 13 to 16. The 2020 Ryder Cup will be at Whistling Straits in Kohler from September 25 to 27. Barrett said those events mean security planning is already well underway.
Corrinne Hess
Lee Matz
Originally published on Wisconsin Public Radio as Milwaukee Mayor Asks President Trump To Consider Hosting 2020 G-7 Summit In Milwaukee
