Trump hastily leaves the G-7 due to the escalation in the Middle East

WashingtonUS President Donald Trump has hastily left the G-7 summit in Canada over escalating tensions in the Middle East between Israel and Iran. "Due to what is happening in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with the heads of state," press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced in a post on X on Monday night. The Republican attended the meeting's gala dinner before leaving for Washington. "I need to get back," she told reporters. Fox reported that Trump has called a meeting of the National Security Council in the White House situation room, which will take place as soon as he arrives in the capital.

Shortly before the announcement, Trump had posted a series of messages on Truth Social in which he insisted that "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon" and warned that "everyone should evacuate Tehran immediately." "Iran should have signed the agreement I told them to sign. What a shame and what a waste of life. To put it bluntly, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I have said it time and time again! Everyone must evacuate Tehran immediately!" Trump wrote in another post.

French President Emmanuel Macron initially suggested that his US counterpart had left the summit to work on a ceasefire proposal between Iran and Israel. "There is indeed a proposal for a meeting and an exchange. A proposal was made specifically to achieve a ceasefire and then begin broader discussions," the French leader explained to reporters after Donald Trump's hasty departure. But the Republican tycoon then denied Macron's claim in a post on his Truth Social network: "French President Emmanuel Macron, on a publicity mission, falsely claimed that I left the G7 summit in Canada to return to Washington to work on a 'ceasefire' between Israel and Iran. False!" "He has no idea why I'm on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a ceasefire. It's much more serious. Whether intentional or not, Emmanuel is always wrong," he added.

From Air Force One, the president reiterated that he is not seeking a ceasefire, but rather "something better," namely, "a real end" to the conflict. The way to get there, for Trump, would be for Iran to "completely give up" its nuclear program, he told reporters. "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, it's very simple." He also announced that he could send US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff or Vice President JD Vance to meet with Iran. But he conditioned the meeting on "what happens when I return" to Washington. He also avoided commenting on whether Israel would slow its attacks on Iran: "It will find out over the next two days. It will find out. No one has slowed down the pace so far."

Fifth day of conflict

The president's decision has come in the fifth day of climbing between Israel and Iran, after Tel Aviv began a series of bombings against the Islamic Republic with the aim of ending its nuclear development program. Early Tuesday morning, Iranian media reported explosions and intense anti-aircraft fire in Tehran. Meanwhile, the White House is negotiating with the ayatollahs about the possibility of a meeting this week between Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to the news site Axios, to discuss a nuclear agreement and a ceasefire between the two countries.

This weekend, Witkoff was scheduled to address the sixth round of negotiations on the nuclear deal in Oman, but the exchange of bombings between Israel and Iran blew up the possibility of dialogue.

This year's G-7 was already marked by memories of 2018, when Trump left early after expressing a series of disagreements with the rest of the member countries. On Monday, he had already shown signs of change with his insistence that Russia should be part of the group that includes the world's major economies. Even so, Trump has joined the joint statement issued this morning by all the partners on the situation in the Middle East, as confirmed by representatives of Canada – the summit's host – at the New York Times. "We, the G-7 leaders, reaffirm our commitment to peace and stability in the Middle East," the statement said. "In this context, we affirm that Israel has the right to defend itself. We reiterate our support for Israel's security," the statement said, describing Iran as "the primary source of instability and terrorism in the region."

Throughout this time, the United States has been avoiding being drawn into the conflict, although Washington has warned that if its bases in the region were attacked, it would respond. The Trump administration maintains that it has played no role in the exchange of attacks between the two countries, although it has acknowledged that it knew of Tel Aviv's plans in advance and that its first attack came after the expiration of the ultimatum it had given Tehran to reach an agreement on its nuclear program.

Over the weekend, Reuters and the Associated Press reported that when Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu explained his plan to attack Iran to Trump, the president did not object. However, the Republican did veto plans to kill the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In response to the rising tensions, the United States has also been strengthening its military presence in the region. It sent additional fighter jets and at least one warship between Sunday and Monday.