Donald Trump will return early to Washington on Monday from the G7 summit because of events in the Middle East, US officials said, confronted by an escalating Iran-Israel conflict and the possibility of US involvement hanging in the balance.
The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump would participate in the G7 family photo and would dine with leaders at the summit in Alberta, Canada, before travelling back a day ahead of schedule.
Trump’s abrupt change in plans comes after a series of developments in the Israel-Iran conflict and a Truth Social post by the president warning residents in Iran’s capital of Tehran to immediately evacuate.
The ominous warning from Trump followed an evacuation order issued earlier in the day by Israeli forces telling residents in large parts of Tehran to evacuate ahead of imminent bombing of “military infrastructure”.
Trump’s early departure is a blow to G7 organizers who had sought to discuss the conflict in the Middle East and were hoping for the US to be a signatory to a statement calling on both sides to de-escalate.
A draft of the statement said Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon, Israel has a right to defend itself and Iran’s nuclear weapons program is subject to a negotiated deal, according to a person familiar with the matter.
“AMERICA FIRST means many GREAT things, including the fact that, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” Trump said in a post after his schedule change was announced.
Trump also suggested he was coming under more pressure to mediate in the conflict.
“They want to make a deal and as soon as I leave here, we’re going to be doing something. But I have to leave here,” Trump said, adding: “It’s always better to talk in person.”
The rapid succession of events raised concerns in Washington about the possibility of the US being dragged into the conflict or its potential to trigger a broader war in the region.
Israel’s bombing runs started with attacks on air defenses, nuclear sites and the military chain of command. But four days into the campaign, it appears to have drifted into war of attrition.
And in another ominous escalation on Monday, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, also said that killing Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, would “end the conflict”.
After the surprise Israeli attack on Friday, Iran has carried out retaliatory missile strikes on Israeli cities, focusing on the most populated areas between Tel Aviv and the port of Haifa, and threatened to leave the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
The US has not been directly involved in the conflict, but on Monday, the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group was rerouted from the South China Sea to the Middle East, a move that put two US carriers in the region.
The Nimitz is likely to reach the Middle East later this week and join the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group, a person familiar with the matter said.
Two destroyers in the Mediterranean have also been moved closer to Israel in recent days to help protect US assets in the region. Dozens of air force refuelling aircraft were also deployed from the US to Europe over the weekend to support operations in the Middle East.
