Trump’s Middle East Fantasy Meets the Reality of the G7 - Birthday Wishes from Putin

When Donald Trump arrived at the G7 summit in the Canadian Rockies on June 15, 2025, he encountered a completely different agenda than he had envisioned. While the US President once again proclaimed on Truth Social that “peace between Israel and Iran” was imminent, European heads of state and government have since tried to hold him accountable - for his strategy in the Middle East conflict, for his concrete plans, for his supposed role as a mediator.

What Trump touts as a diplomatic inevitability - an impending agreement between Israel and Iran - stems from a public statement on Truth Social on June 15. He wrote verbatim: “Likewise, we will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran! Many calls and meetings now taking place. I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that’s OK, the PEOPLE understand.” This claim is viewed critically by nearly all partner states. For while rockets fly in Tehran and Tel Aviv, people die, and nuclear facilities are on high alert, US policy under Trump remains vague, contradictory, and unpredictable. The G7 summit, originally planned as a platform for dialogue on aid to Ukraine, trade issues, and global security, has been overshadowed since its beginning by a single topic: the war between Israel and Iran.

Even beforehand, it had become apparent that this summit would be different. Host country Canada, under the leadership of Prime Minister Mark Carney, had deliberately decided to remove issues such as climate protection, gender equality, and sustainable development from the agenda - previously core components of G7 summits. Instead, resource security, artificial intelligence, China, and energy issues now dominate the official schedule. Transatlantic trade policy is also being negotiated - particularly Trump’s tariff increases on European products and possible retaliatory measures from the EU. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is attending as the representative of the European Union and has already warned in confidential talks that protectionism in times of crisis can have fatal side effects on the global economy. A joint final communiqué was canceled in advance to avoid an open clash with the USA. Nevertheless, it soon became clear that it is mainly Trump’s agenda that is shaping this summit - with maximum media effort but minimal substance.

Europe, represented by Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz, Keir Starmer, and host Carney, is attempting to persuade the US President to adopt a course of de-escalation. A joint position on the role of the West in the Iran-Israel conflict is the goal - but Trump so far evades it, swinging between praise for Israel’s military operations and vague promises of peace. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made it clear: once Israel’s attacks stop, Iran will also cease its responses. There was no mention of US mediation. Additional tensions arose from Trump’s absence from bilateral talks on artificial intelligence and critical raw materials. While Canada wants to use the G7 to reduce dependence on China, the US President digressed in interviews - speaking of “peaceful solutions through strength,” comparing Iran to North Korea, and claiming to be in constant contact with Putin, who is allegedly also involved in a peace plan. Concrete results: none so far.

France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, who have spent years working on diplomatic solutions in the nuclear dispute with Iran, suddenly find themselves sidelined. Trump indicates that he prefers bilateral deals, if necessary without partners. It is a diplomatic affront - and a signal to Tehran that Western unity under Trump is a thing of the past. Behind the scenes, concern is growing: Israel may not only be aiming to disable nuclear facilities but could be seeking regime change in Tehran - through targeted assassinations reaching the political leadership. Former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove said bluntly: “The Israelis will take out the Supreme Leader if they can.” A scenario that has put Europe on high alert. For a government that believes only nuclear weapons can ensure its survival is no longer a distant dystopia - but a conceivable result of Western failure.

So while 15 heads of state and government are still meeting in Kananaskis, south of Banff, until June 18 to discuss artificial intelligence, supply security, critical raw materials, energy policy, China’s economic influence, and transatlantic trade issues, a shadow looms over everything: the potential conflagration in the Middle East. And above it all floats a president who prefers speaking in superlatives to thinking in solutions. Trump’s dream of a peace agreement remains - as of now - exactly that: a dream. And this summit, once conceived as a place of global cooperation, threatens to become a reflection of a geopolitical vacuum more dangerous than any bomb. For when diplomacy becomes merely a slogan and self-promotion, we can only hope that others won’t have to pay the price - with their lives.