Amid a volley of attacks between Israel and Iran, and a shift of U.S. military assets toward the Middle East, President Donald Trump’s team announced he was leaving the Group of Seven summit in Alberta, Canada, on Monday.
The move came as Trump encouraged residents of Tehran to evacuate and said the Shia state would not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.
It also came several hours before reports that Israel had struck an Iranian state broadcaster in Tehran during what appeared to be a live broadcast.
The airstrike came, The Wall Street Journal reported, “after the Israeli military said residents and workers in that part of the capital should leave. Israel earlier said it killed four senior Iranian intelligence officials in a strike on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ headquarters.”
“President Trump had a great day at the G7, even signing a major trade deal with the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Keir Starmer,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt noted on X.
“Much was accomplished, but because of what’s going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State.”
President Trump had a great day at the G7, even signing a major trade deal with the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Much was accomplished, but because of what’s going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State.
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) June 16, 2025
The move came as Trump said on Truth Social that “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!”
Donald J. Trump Truth Social 06.16.25 06:30 PM EST pic.twitter.com/AxYWh5J6Gb
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) June 16, 2025
Roughly an hour later, he posted a materially similar message, albeit without the warning to leave Tehran.
Donald J. Trump Truth Social 06.16.25 07:24 PM EST pic.twitter.com/XIJv4H5oiT
— MAGA Resource (@MAGAResource) June 16, 2025
The message also came a little while after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced what was widely reported in the media: that the United States had moved “additional capabilities” into the Middle East.
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) June 16, 2025
This included reports that a strike group that included the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz had moved into the region, joining the USS Carl Vinson in the area. In addition, U.S. Air Force KC-135R and KC-46A tankers had been moved toward the region, and two U.S. Navy destroyers in the Mediterranean had already been ordered to move closer to Israel.
Israel began strikes on Iran last week, crippling senior leadership and the country’s nuclear program in a series of blows.
While the United States initially said that Israel acted in a “unilateral” fashion and warned Iran against attacking American targets in the region — which was widely rumored to be part of their response — Axios later reported that Israel used the smokescreen of ongoing negotiations to restart the Iranian nuclear deal to convince Iran it was safe from imminent attack.
Axios is reporting that Netanyahu and Trump pulled off a great deception as part of Israel’s preparation to strike Iran. If true, this would go down in history books. pic.twitter.com/R4L5azriC8
— Marina Medvin ???????? (@MarinaMedvin) June 13, 2025
Those negotiations have obviously now been scuttled and Iran probably isn’t under the impression that this was so “unilateral” anymore.
A move of assets toward Israel and Iran certainly isn’t uncalled for — and while evacuating a city of over 9 million people probably isn’t feasible, Tehran and the rest of Iran should know it has two very capable enemies in the United States and Israel and few friends in the Middle East. At the very least, then, Trump’s move should scare the mullahs half to death, if nothing else.
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