WASHINGTON – President Bush and French President Nicholas Sarkozy are slated to meet Saturday at the presidential retreat at Camp David to discuss the global economic turmoil, the White House said Tuesday.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will also attend the weekend meeting, the White House said.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush spoke by phone Tuesday morning with Sarkozy and the leaders of Britain, and Germany following meetings at the White House Monday with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
Sarkozy is currently head of the 27-nation European Union. He has pressed hard for a summit of the G-8 countries to take a hard look at the world financial system and expressed hope that Bush will sign on.
The meeting comes after France and other euro zone countries put in place their own measures to unclog credit and stave off any meltdown. The Bush administration on Tuesday announced details of a plan for the government to spend $250 billion in buying stakes in American banks in an effort to increase available credit and calm the volatile markets.
Sarkozy and Barroso see Bush after a European-Canadian summit in Montreal.
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