Trump to hold final news conference at G7 summit in France

Donald Trump was set to close out the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains with a Wednesday news conference as allies worked through an agenda built around Ukraine, the Middle East and artificial intelligence. The gathering, hosted by France from June 15 to 17 under Emmanuel Macron’s G7 presidency, was billed as a push for concrete action in what Paris described as a volatile and uncertain international moment.

For Americans, the sharper question was whether Trump would use the final stage of the summit to align with allies or widen the divide. The summit unfolded amid heightened attention on the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and Trump was expected to focus on the agreement reached to end the war with Iran even as he faced leaders he has criticized for refusing to join the U.S.-Israeli-led conflict. That contrast highlighted the split between Trump’s messaging and the broader G7 emphasis on collective diplomacy.

The G7 session itself brought together Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, plus the European Union. Leaders were expected to address geopolitical challenges, peace and security for Ukraine and Europe, the situation in the Middle East, international partnerships and solidarity, more balanced economic growth and the future of artificial intelligence.

AI emerged as one of the summit’s most visible economic issues. On the final day, executives from OpenAI and Google DeepMind, including Sam Altman and Demis Hassabis, joined discussions on how to deploy artificial intelligence safely and effectively, while European officials pressed their concerns about U.S. dominance in the industry. The debate carried clear market implications for regulation, competition and the balance of power in a sector shaping everything from productivity tools to national security.

The setting carried its own symbolism. Évian was hosting the summit 23 years after the 2003 Evian G8 meeting and seven years after the 2019 G7 in Biarritz, a reminder that the annual summit now returns to old venues with new fractures. Whether the closing news conference delivered a cleaner message than the week itself depended on whether the leaders could turn broad pledges into measurable commitments.