Donald Trump pulls out of G7 ahead of Albo meeting as Middle East crisis escalates
Anthony Albanese’s meeting with Donald Trump has been cancelled after the US President announced he is departing the G7 Summit early.
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Anthony Albanese’s highly-anticipated meeting with Donald Trump has been cancelled after the President announced he was departing the G7 Summit early to deal with the escalating crisis in the Middle East.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made the bombshell announcement moments after Mr Albanese told reporters he was looking forward to his meeting with Mr Trump.
“President Trump had a great day at the G7, even signing a major trade deal with the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Keir Starmer,” Ms Leavitt wrote.
“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.”
Mr Trump made clear his departure was solely because of the upheaval in the Middle East and not the content or a conflict at the summit.
“You probably see what I see and I have to be back as soon as I can,” he said.
“I wish I could stay for tomorrow, but they understand,” he said of the other leaders.
After the announcement of his departure, Mr Trump joined leaders for the traditional family photo at the summit.
Mr Albanese was not included in the photo as Australia is not part of the G7 forum and he is attending the summit as Canadian PM Mark Carney’s guest.
It is unclear how Mr Albanese learned the US President was leaving Calgary 24 hours before they were due to meet to discuss tariffs and the AUKUS defence pact.
A spokesperson for Mr Albanese said: “Given what is occurring in the Middle East this is understandable.”
“As the Prime Minister said a short time ago, we are very concerned about the events in the Middle East and continue to urge all parties to prioritise dialogue and diplomacy,” they said.
It’s understood Mr Albanese’s other engagements with leaders from Japan and the UK will continue as scheduled.
Mr Albanese has meetings with the heads of Korea, India and Mexico still pencilled in for tomorrow.
Coalition spokesman for trade Kevin Hogan said: “While understanding the Prime Minister couldn’t control the President leaving the G7 early, it is now seven months since the President was elected”.
“Many world leaders have secured a physical meeting, but the Prime Minister still has not. “We have many unresolved issues that need to be discussed leader to leader.
“Australia’s economic and security relationship with the United States is one of our most important. With global uncertainty on the rise, it is more important than ever that our government acts with clarity and purpose.”
Mr Albanese had just wrapped up a press conference in Calgary and his motorcade was pulling away when Ms Leavitt made the announcement on X.
Moments before the announcement, Mr Albanese said he was looking forward to the meeting with Mr Trump.
He revealed he had sought advice from Australians including US Ambassador Kevin Rudd and golf legend Greg Norman ahead of the meeting.
“I always prep seriously for meetings where I’m representing Australia,” Mr Albanese said.
‘I’ve just been through a test - it’s called a federal election.”
He said Mr Rudd, who had been at the forefront of trade negotiations, had offered helpful advice.
“I of course have engaged with Ambassador Rudd as one, for example, who has, I think, an extraordinary capacity in terms of his skills and knowledge of the United States system,” Mr Albanese said.
“I’ve engaged with others as well across the political spectrum.
“I’ve engaged with people like Greg Norman, I was in contact with him in the last week as well, and I’ve engaged as much as possible, because I think that I have a great responsibility, and I take that responsibility seriously, and I look forward to tomorrow’s meeting.”
TRUMP SAYS ‘EVERYONE SHOULD EVACUATE TEHRAN’
Earlier in the day, Mr Trump declined to sign a joint statement with other G7 leaders calling on Israel and Iran to show restraint and avoid further escalating the conflict.
However after the wording was altered, he signed the document that said: “We, the leaders of the G7, reiterate our commitment to peace and stability in the Middle East.”
“In this context, we affirm that Israel has a right to defend itself,”the statement said.
“We reiterate our support for the security of Israel.”
In a post on Truth Social minutes before Ms Leavitt announced his early departure, the President wrote on Truth Social: “AMERICA FIRST means many GREAT things, including the fact that, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
He followed up with another post urging people to immediately leave Tehran.
“Iran should have signed the “deal” I told them to sign,” he said.
“What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON.
Mr Albanese in his press conference again called for restraint in the Middle East.
“Well, we are deeply concerned, and we have urged all parties to prioritise dialogue and diplomacy,” he said.
“The safety of Australians is, of course, our priority at the moment, and I reiterate that our advice is, do not travel to Israel and Iran.
“We want to see peace and security in the region, and we want to see a de-escalation.”
Asked what was being done to evacuate Australians stranded in Israel and Iran, Mr Albanese said it was a challenging issue with airspace in the region still closed.
“Now that presents challenges,” he said.
“So we want to make sure that people are looked after, but they need to be looked after safely as well.”
ALBO MEETS SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT
Meanwhile, South Korean President Lee Jay-myung has made a cheeky dig in his first face-to-face encounter with Mr Albanese, telling the Prime Minister he looks much younger in person than he sounds on the phone.
The two leaders met for the first time on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Canada on Tuesday Australian time.
Before heading into their closed-door bilateral meeting, the leaders briefly spoke to reporters about the ties between the two countries.
“We had a phone call a few days ago and you look much younger and good looking than I imagined from your voice,” President Jay-myung told Mr Albanese.
The PM said he looked forward to the APEC summit in South Korea next month to strengthen economic ties.
“In just a short time we will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of war on the Korean Peninsula, where Australians, very much fought and sacrificed for the freedom of the Republic of Korea,” Mr Albanese said.
“Since then, we have built a very important economic relationship, a relationship of further defence co-operation and a relationship between our people.”
Mr Jay-myung said his country relied on Australia’s natural resource exports and he looked forward to strengthening those economic ties.
“So we already have a close and very cooperative relationship, and I believe that we can still work together to develop this already strong partnership…,” he said.
“I personally love the beauty of the Australian landscape, so I really look forward to having another opportunity to visit your beautiful country.”
ALBO EXCHANGES GIFTS WITH CANADIAN PM
Mr Albanese touched down in Calgary on Monday AEST before heading straight to a bilateral meeting with his Canadian counterpart, Mark Carney, where the pair discussed war in the Middle East, strengthening defence ties and the climate crisis fuelling bushfires seasons in both countries.
En route to the event from Washington, Mr Trump, who is falling well short of his bid to strike 90 deals in 90 days on tariffs, told reporters the US dictated terms of trade deals by sending letters telling other countries what levies they would pay.
“But I think we’re going to have a few new trade deals, yeah,” Mr Trump said.
Before the shock departure of Mr Trump, Mr Albanese brushed off questions about the potential for a volatile meeting with the President who has publicly sparred with other world leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
He said he looked forward to a constructive and respectful dialogue that focused on Australia-US relations including carve outs against the “economic self harm” of tariffs and the continuation of the AUKUS defence deal.
“We’ve got a few things to talk about,” he said.
It followed a bilateral meeting with Canadian PM Mark Carney who presented Mr Albanese with a Stetson cowboy hat and a bear sculpture from a local artist.
The Australian PM in turn gifted his counterpart an Akubra and framed memorabilia from the National Film and Sound Archives of Australia from the movie Gallipoli – Mr Carney’s favourite film.
“We did discuss deepening defence engagement, including Canada’s proposed procurement of Australian over-the-horizon radar technology,” Mr Albanese said of the meeting.
“I think that Australia always has a case for maximising our defence and security relationships in what is an uncertain world.”
It was the second time the two Prime Ministers came face-to-face after their first meeting on the sidelines of Pope Leo’s inauguration in May.
Mr Carney reiterated the strong ties between two countries, particularly in Australia’s deployment of almost 100 Australian firefighters helping battle wildfires still raging in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan
“And once again, as Australians always do, and you always do, have stepped up,” Mr Carney said.
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Originally published as Donald Trump pulls out of G7 ahead of Albo meeting as Middle East crisis escalates