Key events
Donald Trump said he wanted a “real end” to the nuclear problem with Iran, with Iran “giving up entirely” on nuclear weapons, according to comments that were posted by a CBS News reporter on social media platform X.
Trump made the comments during his midnight departure from Canada, where he attended the Group of Seven nations summit on Monday, the CBS News reporter said early on Tuesday.
Trump predicted that Israel would not be slowing its attacks on Iran. “You’re going to find out over the next two days. You’re going to find out. Nobody’s slowed up so far,” the CBS journalist quoted Trump as saying on Air Force One.
Trump said “I may”, on the prospect of sending US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff or Vice President JD Vance to meet with Iran. However, he added that “it depends what happens when I get back”, according to the CBS reporter.
The reporter added that Trump said he has not seen any signs of North Korea or Russia being more involved in aiding Iran.
When asked about efforts to help American leave the Middle East, Trump said his administration is “working on that”.
Opening summary: Trump leaves G7 early amid Iran-Israel crisis
Good morning and welcome to our blog covering US politics today with the news that Donald Trump has left the G7 summit in Canada early.
The US president said his departure had “nothing to do with” working on a deal between Israel and Iran, refuting comments made by French President Emmanuel Macron who said the US had initiated a ceasefire proposal.
“Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform late on Monday.
As Reuters reports, he had earlier urged residents to flee the Iranian capital. “Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform on Monday.
Axios reported the White House is discussing with Iran the possibility of a meeting this week between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News that Trump was still aiming for a nuclear deal with Iran, while adding the US would defend its assets in the region.
As he arrives back in Washington, Trump will be facing competing calls between conservative hawks, seeking immediate US strikes on uranium enrichment facilities, and Maga isolationists, who are demanding he stick to his campaign pledge not to involve the US in new overseas wars.
You can read my colleague Andrew Roth’s analysis here:
The Iran-Israel crisis is likely to dominate the agenda today, but in other developments:
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Trump and the UK’s PM, Keir Starmer, have signed off a UK-US trade deal at the G7 summit in Canada, with the US president saying Britain would have protection against future tariffs “because I like them”. The deal covers aerospace and the auto sector but Trump brushed off reporters’ questions about steel.
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Ukraine on Tuesday slammed the lack of an “adequate reaction” from the world to Russia’s deadly strikes on its soil, after an attack on Kyiv killed at least 14 people. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenksyy had been hoping to speak with Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada.
