Trump leaves G7 early after warning Tehran to evacuate

Telegraph

5 hours ago

Donald Trump has left the G7 summit early to address the Middle East crisis after warning 'everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran'.
He spent much of the meeting in a minority of one, refusing to sign a joint statement on the Israel-Iran crisis, and indicating he would refuse to join other nations in tightening sanctions on Russia.
His Canadian hosts had gone out of their way to build an agenda – filled with Trump-friendly topics such as border security and critical minerals – that would avoid the sort of fireworks that accompanied his last G7 summit on their soil, when he left early in a fury.
Yet it was all for naught. Mr Trump returned to Washington after just one day in Canada, instructing the National Security Council (NSC) to be ready in the Situation Room upon his return.
Marco Rubio, the national security adviser, was also on his way back to Washington, the State Department confirmed.
The announcement followed a flurry of Truth Social posts from Mr Trump, in which he issued a dire warning to the people of Iran's capital.
'Iran should have signed the 'deal' I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CANNOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!' he wrote.
Two more posts in which the US president declared: 'IRAN CANNOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON' swiftly followed.
There was speculation that Mr Trump had intelligence that Iran was about to strike a US base in Iraq.
A White House aide denied reports that American warplanes were in action over Iran.
Meanwhile, sirens sounded in Israeli cities warning of fresh missile attacks and traffic streamed out of the Iranian capital Tehran.
Mr Trump had hinted at a swift exit earlier in the day as news of heavy barrages reached him in the mountain resort of Kananaskis.
'And as soon as I leave here, we're going to be doing something,' he said. 'But I have to leave here. I have, you know, this commitment. I have a lot of commitments.'
Even so, it still came as a shock when Karoline Leavitt, his press secretary, made the announcement on X.
'Much was accomplished, but because of what's going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State,' she posted.
The spin was that he is a busy world leader with wars to solve. But he struck an awkward figure from the moment the day began.
Ahead of his sit down with Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, he slammed the G7 itself, saying the exclusive club had been wrong to expel Russia in 2014 when it annexed Crimea.
'I would say that that was a mistake, because I think you wouldn't have a war right now if you had Russia in,' he said.
This sort of freewheeling Mr Trump was never part of the planning. Organisers wanted to keep his time in front of his travelling press pool to a minimum, according to a source familiar with planning, limiting his opportunities to cause trouble.
But in that first session of the day he answered seven questions shouted by reporters. After things turned to domestic policy, with a question about his deportation programme, Mr Carney – a bystander at his own big moment – stepped in.
'If you don't mind I'm going to exercise my role, if you will, as G7 chair,' he said, silencing a hubbub of shouted questions.
'Since we have a few more minutes with the president and his team, and then we actually have to start the meeting to address some of these big issues.'
Keeping Mr Trump's talking time to a minimum was one of the ways organisers had hoped to reduce his ability to upset proceedings. Yet it could not prevent obvious splits emerging.
When it came to Russia, he made clear that he was not persuaded by European calls to step up sanctions.
'Well Europe is saying that, but they haven't done it yet,' he answered. 'Let's see them do it first.'
When it came to tackling the Israel-Iran conflict, Mr Trump again set himself apart from the rest of the world leaders in attendance.
Earlier, a US official told The Telegraph that he had refused to sign a joint statement urging both sides to avoid civilian casualties, and increase monitoring of Iran's nuclear programme.
That appeared to be too soft on Iran and too tough on Israel for Mr Trump's tastes.
The result was that for much of the day, the world's most powerful man was out of step with his counterparts, turning the G7 into a G6+1.
His early departure means he misses out on two important meetings on Tuesday. He was expected to sit down with Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, and Claudia Sheinbaum, president of Mexico.
By the time he appeared with the other world leaders for their 'family photo' at Kananaskis Country Golf Course - tapping into the president's love of the sport - he cut a stern figure, a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
He couldn't resist turning the occasion into another impromptu press conference, answering reporters' questions.
'I wish I could stay for tomorrow, but they understand ... this is big stuff,' he said, the Canadian Rockies rising into the sky behind him.
Then as he exited stage left, he pointed at his press pool: 'See you on the plane.'