WASHINGTON -- US President Trump heads into next week’s Group of Seven summit in France with a packed agenda covering trade, artificial intelligence, and Ukraine -- and the shadow of the conflict with Iran hanging over all of it.
In a background briefing on June 13, senior administration officials said Trump would seek deeper coordination with allies on a broad range of issues, while holding a series of bilateral meetings with leaders from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
“The President will meet with G7 leaders to address key issues of shared importance, including economic growth and development, supply chain resilience, illegal immigration, and artificial intelligence,” a senior administration official said.
The June 16-18 summit at Evian-les-Bains will be an opportunity for G7 and Gulf state leaders to discuss the situation in the Persian Gulf with Trump.
Trump's decision to launch air strikes on Iran on February 28 blind-sided US allies in the region, in Europe, and beyond. They have all been adversely affected by the subsequent near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial conduit before the war for global supplies of oil and liquified natural gas, as well as other important commodities and products.
Trump is expected to meet French President Emmanuel Macron upon arrival Monday, followed by working sessions with G7 leaders and outreach partners, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
There will also be bilateral meetings with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Ukraine, NATO
The war in Ukraine is expected to remain one of the summit’s most immediate geopolitical issues. Ahead of the summit, US officials reiterated that ending the war remains one of Trump’s highest foreign policy priorities.
“We want the war to end as quickly as possible,” a senior foreign policy official said. “It’s terrible what’s going on in terms of loss of life, the opportunity for miscalculation, the opportunity for escalation.”
Trump initiated a diplomatic push for a peace deal to end Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine shortly after taking office in January 2025. These efforts have appeared to stall in recent months, particularly since the beginning of the war with Iran.
In France, Trump will participate in a working session with Zelenskyy although officials did not confirm a formal bilateral meeting.
Max Bergmann, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said the summit could serve as an important venue for aligning allied positions ahead of the NATO summit next month.
“Maintaining strategic unity remains essential,” Bergmann said during a CSIS summit preview, adding that the G7 remains central to coordinating both economic and military assistance to Ukraine.
European members will hope for reassurances regarding the US commitment to the alliance, following troop reductions and also US media reports of plans to withdraw air and naval assets.
Although NATO is not formally on the G7 agenda, administration officials acknowledged it would likely feature in leaders’ discussions, especially ahead of the NATO gathering in Ankara, Turkey.
“The United States can’t be the lead in every single region of the world,” one official said, underlining Washington's emphasis on increased defense spending by European allies.
Rachel Ellehuus, who previously served as the US Secretary of Defense’s representative to NATO, believes that fairer burden-sharing is now an established feature of alliance planning.
“The debate is less about whether Europe should do more, and more about how quickly that capacity can be built,” Ellehuus said.
Middle East Diplomacy And Maritime Security
But Iran may overshadow Ukraine or NATO in France next week, with fevered speculation on whether a Memorandum of Understanding will be signed by Washington and Tehran in the coming days -- or if the fragile cease-fire in place since April 8 will once again be broken by renewed attacks.
White House officials confirmed separate talks with leaders of Qatar, the UAE, and Egypt, with discussions expected to cover Gaza, Iran, and regional stabilization.
One senior official pointed to what the administration described as progress in Gaza and Lebanon, linking those developments to regional diplomacy initiated during Trump’s earlier term, including the Abraham Accords.
The official also said an emerging framework for the deal with Tehran could involve Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz, followed by coordinated demining operations involving US and allied naval forces.
“That’s something we can do. We have the capacity to do it,” the official said.
Reopening the strait is an issue central to the traditional G7 focus on global economic stability.
“The Gulf remains central not only to energy markets but to broader strategic calculations among major powers,” Steven Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), told reporters during CFR’s summit preview.
He said developments involving Gaza, Iran, and Lebanon would likely shape the broader political environment surrounding the summit, even if they are not formal headline agenda items.