FT: “Just imagine the effect in Moscow should Trump walk out of the NATO summit”

G7 leaders pose at a golf course in Kananaskis, Alberta.
Photo: EPA-EFE

Donald Trump was getting restless, ‘Financial Times’ notes.

Trump abruptly departed the G7 summit, shrinking it to a G6 in a theatrical exit that could mark a turning point in the conflict between Israel and Iran.

Trump later said he left the G7 early simply to be “more well-versed” in the Iranian crisis and because his conversations would be more secure. “Being on the scene is much better, and we did everything I had to do at the G7,” he said.

Trump publicly condemned Emmanuel Macron, president of France, for saying he was heading back to Washington for push for a “ceasefire” in the Middle East.

Trump said: “He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a ceasefire. Much bigger than that. Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong.”

Three officials attending the G7 told the Financial Times that Macron’s decision to make a symbolic stopover in Greenland, on his way to the summit had irritated Trump and contributed to his decision to leave early.

During his visit to the semi-autonomous Danish island, which the US president has said he wants to bring under Washington’s control, Macron said of Trump’s threats: “I don’t think that’s what allies do.”

But one UK official said the president had simply tired of the G7, adding: “He wanted to get on with doing something productive — what was there further to achieve in Calgary?”

But the early departure has raised concerns Trump could do the same thing at the NATO summit in The Hague next week, where many are watching for signals his administration could reduce its commitment to the alliance.

“Just imagine the effect in Moscow should Trump walk out of the NATO summit,” said Stefano Stefanini, Italy’s former ambassador to NATO.

Trump: No time for NATO get-togethers...
Photo: Euroactiv

The NATO alliance meets at the Hague next Tuesday to set ambitious new defence spending targets for national governments and it will be a brief affair to handle Trump, who is unpredictable and impatient with long meetings, ‘The Times’ informs.

Usually, the NATO summit format is built around three meetings, each lasting two and half hours, focused on geopolitics and strategy. Next week’s gathering will be only one session of two and a half hours.

A summit communique, setting out NATO spending targets, will be a mere five paragraphs on one sheet of A4 paper. Last year’s meeting in Washington ran to a 44-paragraph declaration, a chunky 5,400 words long.

“It is about keeping the summit focused, short and sweet,” a diplomat said. “Trump can be impatient and has — [he has] said it himself — a short attention span. The shorter the better.”

Officials and diplomats organising the summit are hoping to learn from this weekend’s G7 when Trump left early before then firing social media broadsides at other leaders.

“Will there be a late night or early morning Truth Social bombshell if he has a summit snit?” said one alliance diplomat. According to the summit programme, Trump will not hold a press conference with Rutte as is conventional.

Mark Rutte, the NATO secretary-general and former Dutch prime minister, is determined to keep to a focus on one single decision to raise NATO defence spending to a 5 per cent target.

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