Merkel tells Trump she won't attend G7 summit due to pandemic

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has declined an invitation from US President Donald Trump to the upcoming G7 summit "given the overall pandemic situation," a government spokesman said Saturday.

"The chancellor thanks President Trump for inviting her to the G7 summit in Washington in late June. As of today, given the overall pandemic situation, she cannot promise her personal participation, ie a trip to Washington," the spokesman said.

Trump is conducting the upcoming G7 summit in Camp David after indicating earlier this month that he wanted an in-person meeting rather than a teleconferencing session.

The announcement marked a reversal of a March decision to cancel the meeting of the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy and the US.

Trump originally planned for the summit to be at his private golf resort in Florida. He switched the location to the government-owned Camp David compound near Washington after facing a backlash.