U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he will postpone the annual Group of Seven meeting of world leaders, which had been scheduled for late June, until September.

Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he would like to invite Australia, Russia, South Korea and India to the meeting.

"I'm postponing it because I don't feel that as a G7 it properly represents what's going on in the world," Trump said.

White House spokesperson Alyssa Farah said Trump wants the countries to discuss China at the summit.

The president had recently said he planned to host the G7 in person later next month, but has faced a mixed and uncertain response from other G7 leaders on attending the summit in person amid the pandemic.

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Trump mulls hosting G7 leaders in Washington amid COVID-19 pandemic

German Chancellor Angela Merkel "cannot confirm" that she will attend a possible G7 summit in Washington amid the coronavirus pandemic, a spokesperson at the Chancellery said Saturday.

"The Chancellor thanks President Trump for his invitation to the G7 summit in Washington at the end of June," Merkel's spokesperson said in a statement.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday he could not yet commit to attending the proposed G7 meeting in person because of concerns over transmission of the virus and Canada's quarantine rules.

Trump first introduced the idea of reviving the summit as an in-person event in a tweet on May 20, indicating that it would signal to the world that things are returning to normal after the coronavirus pandemic halted travel and froze the global economy.

The G7 is made up of the United States, Britain, France, Japan, Germany, Italy and Canada, and the European Union also attends.

(With input from Reuters)