Trump Shifts Tone at G7 Summit, Citing Iran Deal Support and Allied Unity

President Donald Trump departed from his usual skepticism of international gatherings to express satisfaction with the G7 summit held in Evian-les-Bains, a French Alpine resort, where he received backing from allied leaders for his tentative agreement with Iran to end hostilities. The summit marked a notable reversal for Trump, who weeks earlier had criticized the same counterparts for refusing to join the United States and Israel in military strikes against Iran's nuclear program, and who had cut short his attendance at last year's G7 meeting.

At the summit's conclusion, Trump told reporters that G7 leaders had expressed only positive comments about the Iran accord, and that the gathering demonstrated unity at a crucial moment when nations sought to stabilize global oil prices following the conflict. "We found a great deal of unity here at the G7," Trump said. "This meeting could not have come at a better time." The joint statement from G7 leaders—including France's Emmanuel Macron, Italy's Giorgia Meloni, Germany's Friedrich Merz, and the UK's Keir Starmer—explicitly welcomed the tentative deal and credited Trump's "strong leadership" in achieving it, a significant show of support given their earlier criticisms.

Beyond Iran, the G7 leaders demonstrated surprising alignment on Ukraine, securing Trump's commitment to joint statements supporting continued military aid to Kyiv, including air defense systems and long-range capabilities. This represented another diplomatic win for the European leaders, given Trump's long-standing assertions that Ukraine has limited negotiating leverage and should make concessions to Russia. The summit produced a joint G7 statement expressing "unwavering support for Ukraine" and commending the country's "resilience and progress on the battlefield."

However, Trump's handling of the Iran deal revealed a strategic approach to credit and blame. Vice President JD Vance, who helped negotiate the agreement and was promoting it during the summit, was positioned as the lead representative for the ceremonial signing in Switzerland. When asked whether he could take credit if the deal succeeded while blaming Vance if it failed, Trump replied affirmatively: "This way, if it works out, I'm going to take the credit. If it doesn't work out, I'm blaming JD."

On China, the G7 issued a united statement expressing concern about Beijing's flood of subsidized exports and economic coercion, vowing coordinated action if necessary. Macron specifically cited China's industrial overcapacity, excessive subsidies, and weak domestic consumption as sources of global economic imbalance. Yet Trump undercut the collective message by thanking both China and Russia for remaining neutral during the Iran conflict, stating that Presidents Xi Jinping and Putin "could have made it much more difficult for us" had they chosen to intervene.