You May Have Heard There Was a G20 Summit Over the Weekend? Here’s the TL;DR

The G20 Summit is a forum for the world’s leaders to discuss issues that are affecting trade, financial growth and diplomacy.

It is also designed to discuss humanitarian and environmental issues like refugees and climate change. This year the conference was held in Hamburg, Germany and hosted by Angela Merkel, the German chancellor.

The G20 (Group of Twenty) consists of 19 countries plus the European Union spanning all continents (except Antartica obvs). The G20 meetings also include players from some of the biggest international organisations in the world such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organisation and the World Heath Organisation. 

Now those boring basics are out of the way, here’s the highlights reel.

Donald Trump’s gaffes make headlines again.

It's no surprise the U.S. president has again made headlines for antics that would usually be reserved for spoofs and parodies. There were a number of instances over the weekend where the world collectively mouthed "W. T. F." at his actions. Take, for instance, the moment when President Trump subbed in his daughter Ivanka to sit at a meeting while he met with the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo. Usually, in these cases, this seat would be reserved for someone high-ranking and uhh, qualified.

Ivanka on June 26: "I try to stay out of politics."
Ivanka on July 8: Seated with global leaders as an equal at the G20 summit.

— Lee Ann Lewman (@LALewman) July 8, 2017

President Trump also had an awkward encounter with the Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto, after journalists asked if he still wanted Peña Nieto to pay for the wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

ABC News' political editor, Chris Uhlmann, posted a savage criticism of Trump's antics at the G20 Summit which has since gone viral. We're just gonna leave this here because it sums everything up.

The Polish first lady should get an award for "Sassiest Handshake Snub".

Poland's first lady is the new leader of the free world pic.twitter.com/tgDUdjY8Tp

— Carli Velocci (@velocciraptor) July 6, 2017

In what could only be conceived as a premeditated act of aggression, Agata Kornhauser-Duda, the First Lady of Poland, expertly swerved the small hands of President Trump over the weekend. While Trump did reach out to shake her hand, she locked eyes and then (coldly) opted for Melania's hands instead.

Ice queen.

Angela Merkel's eye roll at Vladimir Putin is now a GIF for the ages.

While no one's really sure what exactly Russia's president Vladimir Putin was saying (although, we could take an educated guess), this footage of German Chancellor Angela Merkel eye-rolling while listening to a very intense Putin has gone viral on Twitter for being so relatable. Angela, we feel you.

Prime Minister Trumble carpooled with Trump.

President Trump's car is colloquially known as 'The Beast' due to its military-grade armour, bullet-proof windows and puncture-proof tyres. It's basically the Batmobile and our Prime Minister got a ride in it.

According to Turnbull, they discussed a "number of things" and spoke of old mutual friends. Yawn.

The serious stuff.

While the bloopers reel is infinitely more fun to digest, there were some serious (but vague) things that happened at the G20 Summit too. 

• The summit resolved to decrease the gap by 25 per cent between male and female labour force participation by 2025. 
• All but one of the countries agreed to commit to the Paris Agreement, leaving the U.S. on its own.
• There was clear intention to commit to sharing information between countries in order to better fight terrorism.

In summary, if the G20 Summit was a soap opera, it would be a steamy success. But back in the real world, however, it is real life and many have described it as the decline of the U.S. as a world leader and "awkward". Pretty damning for a meeting between the world's most powerful people who have the means to impact real, positive change.

Photo: Presidential Press and Information Office