Israel-Iran conflict dominates G7 summit in Canada as Donald Trump leaves early

US President Donald Trump left the G7 summit in Canada a day early because of the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.

Mr Trump's early departure on Monday came after the aerial war dominated talks at the annual meeting of leaders from developed countries.

He said he would head back to the White House after the leaders have dinner and that they understood why he was leaving.

LatestIsrael claims top Iranian general killed as countries trade fire

Read More

"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," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

The Israel-Iran conflict presented G7 leaders with yet another crisis as they met in the Rocky Mountains, where the world's economy and the wars in Gaza and Ukraine had initially been set to dominate talks.

Mr Trump's "reciprocal” levies on trading partners were also expected to feature prominently. But chaos in the Middle East dominated conversations, with reporters at a bilateral summit between Mr Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney focused on Israel and Iran.

“They [Iran] have to make a deal,” Mr Trump said at the start of the summit, referring to negotiations related to developing a new nuclear agreement aimed at putting limits on Iran's programme.

Donald Trump says 'Iran is not winning this war'

00:31

“It’s painful for both parties, but I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it’s too late.” Mr Trump avoided a question about whether the US would get involved in the conflict militarily.

His early departure appeared to scupper planned meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Earlier on Monday, Mr Trump posted a cryptic message on Truth Social urging Iranians to evacuate Tehran.

Going into the summit, there was no plan for a joint statement this year. The Trump administration appeared disinterested in building a shared consensus with fellow democracies if it views such a statement as contrary to its goals of new tariffs, more fossil fuel production and a Europe that is less dependent on the US military.

A German official said the six other countries had hoped for a joint statement on the Israel-Iran conflict.

In a media conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Mr Trump said Iran would be "foolish" not to sign a nuclear deal with Washington.

The G7 leaders gathered in Kananaskis, Alberta for the annual summit, with Canada chairing meetings on the Israel-Iran war, trade, tariffs and the global economy.

Mr Trump and Mr Carney were expected to tackle trade issues between the two countries, which have been in flux since the US leader issued sweeping 25 per cent tariffs. “We're going to see if we can get to the bottom of it today,” Mr Trump told reporters. “I'm a tariff person. I've always been a tariff person.”

Mr Trump was complimentary about Mr Carney, in stark contrast to the way he referred to former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

The last time Canada hosted the G7, in 2018, Mr Trump famously left early and attacked Mr Trudeau, Canada's prime minister at the time, for being “very dishonest and weak”.

Aside from leaders of the G7 countries and the EU, Mr Carney has invited several heads of state from non-G7 countries as guests, including Ms Sheinbaum, who confirmed her attendance on Monday after saying in May that she was not sure if she would be there, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Kate Higgins, head of Co-operation Canada, a coalition of Canadian international development and humanitarian organisations, said this G7 was a moment for Canada to reassert itself after years of dormancy on the world stage. “I think the world is looking to Canada to step up and to really defend the importance of international and global co-operation,” Ms Higgins told The National.

She wants Canada to take a leading role in calling for an end to global conflicts and to champion international aid. The G7 represents 44 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP) but 10 per cent of the world’s population. Within the group, the US is by far the largest economy.

Relations between the allies have frayed slightly following Mr Trump's upending of long-established trade agreements.

The US and UK signed a much-anticipated trade deal on Monday, after announcing the agreement last month.

"It's a fair deal for both, going to produce a lot of jobs, a lot of income," Mr Trump said of the agreement. Mr Starmer called it "really important".

The deal includes quotas to protect against some tariffs levied by Mr Trump, but the 10 per cent baseline will remain, as the administration is banking on tariff revenue to help cover its cuts to income taxes. Canada and Mexico face separate tariffs of as much as 25 per cent.

Sir Mark Lyall Grant, a former UK ambassador to the UN, has said European nations might try to send “co-ordinated messages” to Mr Trump at the G7 summit. He told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 that all the members of the G7 had a “negative consensus”.

“No one participating wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon. They are all concerned about escalation and particularly spillover – attacks on their own nationals or interests in the region, or indeed their own countries. None of them wants to get directly involved,” he said.

“Japan and Canada have been the most critical of Israel, the US and Germany are more standardly pro-Israel and other Europeans are somewhere in the middle. Much depends on President Trump. He clearly doesn't want to get involved but is talking about the countries doing a deal, which is unrealistic."