International: Affront to say goodbye: Trump leaves G7 summit prematurely

US President Donald Trump surprisingly left the G7 summit in Canada because of the Middle East crisis and gave up puzzles about the further procedure. Trump wedged against his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron immediately after his farewell with a social media post and explained that he did not go back to Washington to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, but “something much bigger”. However, he didn’t say what he was up to. Macron had previously gave the impression that Trump wanted to try a ceasefire.

The second day of the meeting of the heads of state and government of economic-strong western democracies in the Rocky Mountains now takes place without Trump. And the summit will end without progress in central issues such as dealing with Russia and the customs dispute between the EU and the USA. Shortly before the departure, the group agreed on a joint explanation of the war between Iran and Israel.

The background of the departure is unclear

The announcement of Trump’s departure came as a surprise, and the exact circumstances of his decision initially remained in the dark. The president will return to Washington to “take care of many important matters,” said his spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt on Monday evening (local time). “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.”

Does this mean that the United States intervene militarily into the conflict between Israel and Iran? Or is it a matter of coming to a negotiating solution? That remained open at first. In any case, the G7 partners met the announcement of the departure unprepared. In the delegation of Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), it was assumed shortly before that the US President would remain until the end of the summit on Tuesday evening.

Macron is positive about US efforts

As an affront for the G7, nobody of the left -wing values ​​wanted to do that. On the contrary: France’s President Macron demonstratively commented on the US efforts at the end of the war between Israel and Iran. If the United States could achieve a ceasefire, it is a very good thing, he said.

A little later, this positive attitude should be handled at least in astonishment. The “public -sitting” French president mistakenly claimed to go back to Washington to work on a ceasefire, Trump wrote shortly after entering the Air Force One government machine on the Truth Social Platform.

“He has no idea why I’m on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a ceasefire,” Trump continued. Macron is always wrong.

Trump started with a provocation into the summit

After the departure was a damper for the G7 round, these words made the farewell at least a scandal between Trump and Macron. And in the few hours that Trump had participated in the summit before he left, it wasn’t really good for the G7. The US President started the meeting with a provocation and regretted the exclusion of Russia from the group of states as a “big mistake”. Putin was thrown out of the G8 at the time after the Annexion of the Ukrainian Crimea. Since then, his return has been considered unthinkable to the Europeans – especially after the invasion of Ukraine 2022.

No progress in Russia sanctions and tariffs

Trump was rather dismantling about the new sanctions against Russia. “Don’t forget that sanctions cost us a lot of money,” he emphasized. “When I sanction a country, the United States costs a lot of money.”

There was also no progress with another issue for Europeans. The fierce customs dispute between the EU and the USA was not even addressed at Trump’s meeting with Merz

Conciliatory signal before departure

However, it can be seen as a conciliatory sign that the G7 could still agree on a joint explanation of the escalation in the Middle East. In the text, Iran is referred to as “the main source of regional instability and terror” and Israel emphasizes the right to self -defense. The G7 heads of state and government also explain that it was always unequivocally clarified that Iran should never get into the possession of a nuclear weapon.

After a G7 summit in Canada, Trump had already provided turmoil with a social media message from the plane, but at that time even far more serious: In 2018, the US President had declared a laborious declaration of summit on the return flight to Washington in 2018-a unique process and still a traumatic experience for the G7. The group consists of the states of the USA, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Canada and Japan. The EU is also included.

There were only six

On the second summit day, the G7 is now shrinking to the G6 – and Trump is not included at an important appointment: a meeting with the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj. Even with the guests of the G7 from Mexico, India, South Africa, Indonesia or South Korea, the US President will not meet. It was still unclear in the evening which joint explanations are now being adopted.

In any case, the summit will end quite sang and soundlessly. The signal of unity that Merz has hoped for does not come from him. It remains more of a feeling of great uncertainty – for the situation in the Middle East and the future of the G7.