Could Donald Trump take a pass on this weekend’s G7 summit in Charlevoix, Que?

Christopher Sands, director of Canadian studies at Johns Hopkins University, thinks that the U.S. President could skip the event if he expects intense blowback for his country’s steel and aluminum tariffs.

“Trump doesn’t necessarily like getting yelled at,” Sands told BNN Bloomberg on Wednesday. “If he doesn’t feel that this is going to be a ‘come together’ moment, he may well send [Vice-President Mike Pence]. And what he’ll say is, ‘I’ve got to prepare for my summit with Kim Jong-Un, which is on the 12th, coming up right after this weekend.”

Sands cited Trump’s decision to skip the Summit of the Americas in April as precedent for a possible pass on this weekend’s meetings.

However, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Trump plans on confronting his allies in Charlevoix. The Post also reported that White House officials are discussing further economic penalties against Canada after Ottawa announced plans for retaliatory dollar-for-dollar surtaxes on the U.S. last week.

Sands says there is an opportunity to make the meeting productive on both sides, but it might depend on a gentler approach to dealing with Trump.

“The hope is, at the G7 meeting this weekend, you’ll see the allies not harangue Trump – which is what happened at Whistler with [Treasury Secretary Steve] Mnuchin, where all the other countries ganged up on the U.S. and read him the riot act,” Sands said.

“Here, the hope is that the leaders can say, ‘Look, we are your friends. We want to work with you. Can we come to some climb-down on steel and aluminum tariffs, and try to work together?’”

However, Sands said, this all depends on Trump making an appearance.

“The hope is this summit in Canada will be the turning point, where we get away from the confrontation,” he said.

“If they don’t this weekend… If, for example, Trump decides not to even go and sends Mike Pence in his place, then we’re off on a very bad road.”