CALGARY, Alberta — President Donald Trump is leaving the G7 Summit early, press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Monday night.
“I have to be back,” the president said in response to shouted questions in Kananaskis on Monday evening. “You probably see what I see and I have to be back as soon as I can.”
The White House cited escalating violence in the Middle East as the reason for Trump’s early departure.
“President Trump had a great day at the G7, even signing a major trade deal with the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Keir Starmer,” Leavitt wrote Monday evening 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.”
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The Group of Seven Summit, hosted this year in Canada, is scheduled to go on through Tuesday. The president is expected to attend Monday night events, including a group photo and a heads of state dinner before departing immediately after. He was initially expected to stay through Tuesday night, holding more meetings on Tuesday and a press conference in the afternoon.
Trump’s departure from the region comes as the death toll in Iran reaches the hundreds in its third day of exchanging missiles with Israel. On Monday, Israel struck Iran’s state-run television station during a live broadcast after Iran fired a wave of missiles that killed at least eight people.
The president posted on Truth Social earlier Monday that Iran “CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON” and “should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign.”
“Everyone should immediately evaluate Tehran!” Trump wrote.
A White House official told NOTUS on Monday afternoon that President Trump did not intend to sign a joint statement calling for deescalation between Israel and Iran, drafted by G7 leadership.
“I think Iran basically is at the negotiating table where they want to make a deal, and as soon as I leave here, we’re going to be doing something,” Trump said, without offering any further details on what that something was.
White House officials traveling with the president would not say whether a change in temperature on the ground or a major escalation to come was the reason why the president had so abruptly changed his plans. And as of Monday evening, the White House denied reports that it was preparing to join Israel in striking Tehran, with officials saying that the administration was maintaining its “defensive posture.”
“‘America First’ means we will defend American personnel and American interests,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in an interview with Fox News’ Jesse Watters. “When you see jets and you see air defense assets, that is because my job as secretary of defense is to ensure our people are safe and we are strong.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio travelled with the president to Canada and has been briefing him throughout the day, according to an official.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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Amelia Benavides-Colón is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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