President Trump Decided to Leave the G7 Summit Early to Focus on Israel and Iran

Anytime President Trump interacts with other world leaders, the results are almost guaranteed to be unpredictable. The Group of Seven meeting, known as the G7, is a meeting between many of the Western world's biggest economies, and is designed to help them align on any future cooperative initiatives.

The meeting is being held in Canada, and Trump has announced that he's leaving the summit early. Given that he made the announcement just hours before leaving, many want to know why he decided to leave early.. Here's what we know.

Trump's White House announced that he would be leaving the meeting early to focus on the ongoing military conflict between Israel and Iran. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that "because of what’s going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State.”

Trump had a similar message for reporters, saying that he had to be back "as soon as I can."

“We’re gonna have dinner with these wonderful leaders, and then I get on a plane. I have to be back early for obvious reasons," he explained. According to reporting from NBC News, Trump requested that the National Security Council be prepared to brief him on the latest on the conflict in the Situation Room when he gets back. During the flight back to Washington on Air Force One, Trump said that he wants a "real end" to the conflict between Israel and Iran, not just a ceasefire.

Trump also suggested that he might send Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff to negotiate with the Iranians. The president also expressed his belief that the Iranians were close to developing a nuclear weapon, despite testimony from his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, in March that said otherwise. After posting that Tehran, the capital of Iran, should be evacuated, Trump also clarified that there is no imminent threat.

Although some who oppose Trump might instinctually think that there's some other reason he's leaving the G7 early, it's undeniable that the situation between Iran and Israel is a tumultuous one. In a statement released late on June 16, the G7 leaders called for de-escalation of the conflict, affirmed Israel's right to defend itself, and said that Iran was principally responsible for the hostility in the region.

Israel first began attacking Iranian sites across the country on June 13, and has continued to attack the country in the days since. Although Iran does not yet have nuclear weapons, there are already questions about how the country might respond to this attack, which Israel claims is a "preemptive strike."

Although the U.S. is not directly involved, it's unclear whether the president knew ahead of time that a strike would be taking place. For now, then, the White House is trying to keep the situation from devolving into something closer to all-out war.