International: Trump leaves G7 summit prematurely due to the Middle East crisis

US President Donald Trump leaves the G7 summit in Canada prematurely because of the war between Israel and Iran. “President Trump will return to Washington this evening to take care of many important matters,” said his spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt on Monday evening (local time). It named the location in Middle East as the reason.

Trump had previously indicated that Iran was ready for negotiations and that he would take care of it as soon as he returned from the G7 meeting. At the same time, there are fears that the United States could actively intervene in the military discussion, which would mean a completely new escalation.

A weakened G7 round

The early departure of the US President from the G7 summit in Kananaski is a damper for the group of leading democratic business powers. The meeting in Kananaskis was a test whether the round is still able to find a common line on major international topics. Through Trump’s return to the office of president, the potential for conflict in the format has grown significantly. This was already evident at the start of the summit when it comes to Russia.

While Trump regretted the exclusion of Russia from the group of leading business powers as “big mistakes” before the first work meeting, the Europeans urged harder sanctions to stop President Vladimir Putin’s war machine. Trump reacted reluctantly and made it clear that he was not planning a joint advance for sanctions against Moscow. The Europeans could go ahead here, he suggested and at the same time said that he saw US sanctions critically.

Trump’s solo-loose mission mission

Now Trump made it clear with a view to the Middle East that coordination with the G7 partners has no priority for him, but he prefers to take things into his own hands.

“A lot was achieved, but because of the events in the Middle East, President Trump will leave the head of state this evening after dinner,” wrote Leavitt on the platform X.

Trump originally should have left Canada back to Washington on Tuesday evening. The G7 countries only started their summits on Monday and have several rounds on the program for today – even with several host countries. Among other things, the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj is expected to be a guest at the summit – Selenskyj had also wanted to meet Trump alone. However, the US President is currently more concerned with the war between Iran and Israel than with the Russian attack war against Ukraine.

Israel has been attacking goals in Iran since the night of Friday – including nuclear facilities, leading military, nuclear scientists, defense positions, destinations in cities and oil and natural gas fields. The main goal is to prevent the Islamic Republic from the secret development of nuclear weapons. Iran reacted with counterattacks to Israel.

The war between the two arch enemies is an important escalation of the already dramatic situation in the Middle East. Since October 2023, Israel has also been a war against Islamist Hamas in the Gaza strip-in response to a devastating Hamas attack on Israeli soil. Due to the military conflict between Iran and Israel, there is a risk of surface in the entire region.

Iran sees the United States as the main supporter of Israel in the responsibility. There is also fear that the management of Iran could also order retaliation against American bases in the Middle East. Then the United States would be back, as President Donald Trump announced – and the next dramatic escalation level would be achieved. The same would be the case if the United States would actively help Israel to attack certain Iranian nuclear facilities, according to experts, are deep underground.

New nuclear talks with Iran?

The Trump government had tried to contain the Iranian nuclear program in the past few months. With the mediation of the Gulf State of Oman, there were direct discussions between representatives of Washington and Tehrans.

After the military escalation between Israel and Iran, a planned further round of talks was initially canceled. According to a report by the “Wall Street Journal”, Iran now wants to return to the negotiating table. Tehran informed intermediaries from Arab countries that it was ready for discussions about its nuclear program as long as the United States did not participate in the attacks, the sheet wrote.

Trump also said in Kananaskis, the Iranians wanted to talk. “I think an agreement will be signed,” said the Republican. Otherwise something will happen, he pushed after without becoming more specific. “An agreement will be signed and I think Iran is stupid if he doesn’t sign it.” Tehran is “practically at the negotiating table,” he emphasized. “You want to make a deal, and as soon as I am gone, we will do something.”

Or a dramatic turn in Iran?

Shortly afterwards, Trump published a cryptic warning to the residents of the Iranian capital on platform X. “Everyone should leave Tehran immediately,” wrote the US President there. Tehran has been shaken by Israeli attacks for days. An estimated around 9 million people live there, in the greater Tehran area it should be around 15 million people. It remained unclear what the motivation for Trump’s call for evacuation was.

In the afternoon, Israel initially called for a Tehran district to evacuate around 300,000 inhabitants. Shortly afterwards, the main building of a state broadcaster was hit there. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also called for the residents of Tehran to flee.

The US military supports Israel’s defense. At the same time, the US government has so far emphasized that it has not participated in the fighting between Israel and Iran.