President Donald Trump will depart France later Wednesday after participating in several days of talks between world leaders who make up the Group of Seven, commonly referred to as the G7.
In addition to the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom are all members of the group. The European Union acts as a participating “nonenumerated” member, and other countries attended the annual summit. Top leaders from Ukraine, Egypt, India, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates attended the 2026 meeting.
Here are some key moments from Trump’s visit abroad:
Memorandum of understanding with Iran
The United States and Iran are expected to formally sign a memorandum of understanding on Friday in Switzerland, which would allow the countries to continue talks about formally ending the war for good.
The text of the memorandum has already been reported and criticized by some of the president’s allies. While at the summit in France, Trump clarified that the early drafts of the text were not entirely accurate, and later held a press conference to provide additional details of the deal.
He said during a meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he’s struck a lot of deals over the course of his life, some that were 100% certain to go through but later did not, and others that seemed to have no chance but then they went through.
“You never know what deals do, but you’re going to find out pretty soon,” he said. “I think it’ll be done. They want to sign. They want to get back to normal life.”
According to The Associated Press’ reported version of the memorandum, signing the document would immediately and permanently end the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and each country would agree to refrain from interfering in internal affairs.
It would create a 60-day timeline for a nuclear deal to be reached, lift the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports and withdraw troops from the region, sea traffic would be restored to prewar volume, the U.S. would aid in “rehabilitation and economic development” of Iran, the U.S. would release frozen Iranian funds, and Iran will vow to never seek a nuclear weapon.
Signing of the document would be approved through a binding resolution of the United Nations Security Council.
At a Wednesday press conference, Trump expressed confidence that the deal would go through, while still noting that things could change. If Iran doesn’t abide by the agreement after the memorandum is signed, “we’re going to bomb the hell out of them,” he said.
He shared that the other world leaders at the summit were glad a deal was being reached. Ahead of the France visit, it was unclear how Trump would react with the other world leaders, since they didn’t aid the U.S. in its efforts in the Middle East and received criticism from the president.
Memorandum puts MAGA in a bind
Many of Trump’s allies are not fans of the memorandum and the notable concessions that were offered to end the war with Iran, leading to some visible tension between former and current administration officials.
For example, Vice President JD Vance has been making the rounds with American media while the president is abroad and has pushed back on the criticism, saying some initial reporting about the agreement has been misleading.
He also shared that Iran asked the U.S. to not release the full text of the memorandum until Friday, when the two sides are expected to meet to sign the deal.
“We’re actually trying to push them to get it out today, because we want to tell the American people what’s in this deal,” he said. “It’s fundamentally a good deal for the American people, but it’s ... also very simple, and I’ve also seen some ... misrepresentations about it.”
Vance argued that it would immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has led to oil prices dropping, and it provides a “framework” for Iran to stop funding terrorism in exchange for some sanctions relief from the U.S. The most important point for them is ensuring that Iran won’t be able to recover from the dismantling of its nuclear system.
Notably, during Trump’s press conference and meetings at the summit, other top administration officials appeared to be more reserved about the deal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hasn’t publicly expressed his own support and stood silently behind the president on Wednesday during his remarks.
Additionally, other Republicans have come out against the memorandum.
Former Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday told CNN’s Kaitlin Collins that he supported Trump in the conflict against Iran but said he has “very real concerns” because he doesn’t trust the Iranians.
“It smacks of appeasement,” Pence said of the memorandum. “I don’t think this is the time to pull back. I don’t think this is the time for appeasement and I would urge the president to stand firm on the fundamental elements that Iran has to dismantle and abandon its nuclear program.”
Conservative political commentator Hugh Hewitt also expressed skepticism over the deal, arguing that the signing on Friday would essentially be the start of another ceasefire period as it punts the final deadline to 60 days later. Fox News’ Bret Baier joined Hewitt’s show to highlight the impact that the memorandum would have on U.S. pockets. It’s “real money” that would be flowing “right away,” should the memorandum be signed and the U.S. eases its sanctions and restrictions on Iran, he said.
Criticism of Israel over Lebanon
Trump throughout the summit increased his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s continued fighting with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which has continued to fire rockets at Israel.
On Tuesday, Trump said Syria could do a better job than Israel in dismantling the Iranian-backed terror group.
“You don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody, because there are lot of people in those apartment houses, and they’re not all Hezbollah, that I can tell you,” Trump said.
He argued that Syria should “take care of Hezbollah” because they will do a “better job of it.” Trump suggested that Syrian President Ahmen al-Sharaa would be able to “do the job” if Israel can’t do it without killing non-Hezbollah members.
On Wednesday, the president said Netanyahu was a “good man” who “gets a little excited sometimes.”
Trump maintained that Israel and the U.S. have a good partnership, but they’ve had a “little dispute” over how to handle fighting in Lebanon.
“I say he can do a little softer touch,” Trump said. He later added that a copy of the Iran memorandum had been sent to Israel since it included a line that said, upon signing, fighting would cease in Iran, the Strait of Hormuz and its surrounding areas, and in Lebanon.
U.S. deals with allies
Trump, in several of his meetings with foreign leaders, announced new investments the countries would be making in the United States.
For example, Trump shared that he had good conversations with Modi, where the two discussed trade deals and India “building a lot” in the U.S.
Trump also met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and detailed how their relationship had been “very strong” for a long time. He said the U.S. would be discussing trade and the Nile River impacts from an Ethiopian dam. The U.S. would be “helping him with a little dam project,” Trump said.
While sitting down with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the summit, Trump said Qatar would be investing “much more” than $1 trillion in the U.S.
“Qatar has been a great investor, we really rekindled ourselves when I met you last year,” Trump said of their last meeting, later adding, “But Qatar is investing tremendous amounts of money in our country, and we appreciate that.”
Update on Russia-Ukraine war stance
With the war between Russia and Ukraine still ongoing and impacting Europe, Trump urged the countries to stop fighting in the more than four-year-long war.
Trump argued that Russia should make a deal because both countries have lost “tremendous amounts of people.”
“It’s crazy what’s going on there,” he said.
Trump shared that he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, where he discussed the amount of people who had died in the war.
“I mean, they just keep going, fighting, losing soldiers, they lose so many soldiers. This is not, since World War II, has anything like this happened,” Trump said.
While Trump said he’d be meeting to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war, ending the conflict with Iran was his first priority. He also reiterated that while the European war doesn’t much impact the U.S., he doesn’t like to see the number of casualties rise.
“The whole thing is ridiculous, so, yeah, I’m going to do whatever I can,” he said.
Artificial intelligence at the forefront
At this year’s G7 summit, artificial intelligence and emerging tech was top of mind — and so was the United States’ dominance in the field.
Leaders of some of the top AI companies attended the conference on Wednesday, showing that their geopolitical influence is growing and is going to be an agenda item for the world’s top leaders, CNBC noted.
CEOs including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis and other tech leaders all participated in a meeting to discuss infrastructure and the technology’s risks.
Some European-based tech leaders were also there, including French Mistral’s Arthur Mensch and Canadian Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez, as well as leaders from companies based in Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan.
While the AI sector has been embraced by Trump and his administration, the release of new abilities has the president and others considering placing more restrictions or stronger regulations on the technology. It’s also sparked concern for other countries that they’d be on the sidelines and cut off from some AI capabilities, CNBC reported.
OpenAI told the outlet earlier this month that it was expecting other tech companies to agree to “voluntary commitments” during the G7 summit.
Gifts, World Cup goals, humor and the hot mic
Trump traveled to France just after celebrating his 80th birthday with a UFC fight on the White House South Lawn Sunday evening, with military flyovers and a fireworks show.
Upon arriving at the summit, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gifted Trump a soccer jersey, numbered 47 for him being the 47th president of the United States. It was in honor of North America currently hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with games taking place across the U.S. Trump has been involved in the process and ceremonies leading up to the global tournament.
“Happy belated 80th birthday, @POTUS,” Merz said online. “After all, we’re on the same team.”
They also discussed the ongoing World Cup matches, with United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying it was “remarkable” that Cape Verde tied the former World Cup champion Spain. Trump highlighted the UFC fight, speaking highly of the organization’s CEO, Dana White.
French President Emmanuel Macron also gifted his fellow counterparts personalized bicycles to promote the Cycling World Championships scheduled next year in the French Alps.
Throughout the summit, a meeting where the world leaders discuss some of the world’s most pressing issues, the leaders of the most powerful democracies also discussed lighter topics caught on hot mics.
For example, a moment between Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was caught on a live broadcast in which they discussed how she hadn’t smoked a cigarette since “the first of May,” prompting other leaders to congratulate her. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney asked Meloni if she wore a nicotine patch.
While the leaders are in agreement about many things, European officials have been adamant that the United States cannot acquire Greenland, a territory of Denmark. Trump, speaking to EU Council President Antonio Costa, was overheard saying, “You understand?” adding, “Greenland.” However, the start of their conversation wasn’t clear.
Trump also drew several laughs from the fellow leaders throughout the summit. Macron appeared to have left his watch behind after one meeting, with Trump remarking, “Give me it if he left, gimme,” prompting laughter. He also arrived to Wednesday morning’s meeting declaring, “I’m the boss!” which earned laughter from his counterparts.