Combative Trump storms into G7 powder keg as world leaders brace for showdowns with Europe and Zelensky

By ELINA SHIRAZI, US SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 08:18, 15 June 2026 | Updated: 08:23, 15 June 2026 The picturesque shores of Lake Geneva are bracing for a diplomatic storm, with an ornery President Donald Trump flying to France in a combative mood fresh off hosting a UFC cage fight on the White House lawn. When world leaders gather in Evian-les-Bains for the three-day G7 summit, they will do so under the suffocating shadow of global war and financial panic, sparked by Iran's closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz and Trump's ongoing threat of sweeping tariffs. Trump is set to go face-to-face with traditional foils like France's Emmanuel Macron and the UK's Keir Starmer, while navigating freshly minted leaders including Germany's Friedrich Merz, Japan's Sanae Takaichi and Canada's Mark Carney. Evian will be his fifth G7 appearance, and the historical pattern across all of them is the rest of the club organizing its entire diplomatic apparatus around managing him. From the fractured 2018 summit in Canada, where he tanked the joint communique via tweet, to France’s 2019 decision to abandon the final statement entirely just to avoid his veto, the G7’s primary objective has frequently defaulted to containment. The stage is set for an immediate revival of old theatrical grudges, and the tension isn't just between Washington and Europe, but within the European ranks themselves. Italy's Giorgia Meloni is also back at the table, a leader famously caught on camera at last year's summit in Kananaskis, dramatically rolling her eyes during a whispered, off-mic conversation with Macron - a viral moment that said more than words ever could. At the center of gravity will be Trump's highly anticipated, high-stakes confrontation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who remains mired in a fight with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the fight drags on into a brutal, gridlocked war of attrition with mounting casualties and no clear resolution in sight. President Donald Trump gives a fist bump to the press as he departed for the G7 event around 3 am ET Monday after the UFC fight on the White House South Lawn  President Donald Trump walks to the motorcade around 2:30 am ET Monday morning fresh off hosting his birthday UFC fight on the South Lawn Sunday night  The picturesque shores of Lake Geneva are bracing for a diplomatic storm, with an ornery President Trump flying to France in a combative mood fresh off hosting a UFC cage fight on the White House lawn Trump is set to go face-to-face with traditional foils like France's Emmanuel Macron and the UK's Keir Starmer , while navigating freshly minted leaders including Germany's Friedrich Merz, Japan's Sanae Takaichi and Canada's Mark Carney President Donald Trump, right, meets with France's President Emmanuel Macron in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington back in February of last year A police boat patrols on Lake Leman with Lausanne in Switzerland in the background ahead of the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France Fueled by a last-minute push from European allies to present a united front, Zelenskyy has successfully maneuvered his way to the table with a blistering message for a reluctant Europe to stop hiding behind Uncle Sam. Backed by a European contingent aggressively pressing for a coordinated peace proposal, Zelenskyy's face-to-face meeting will likely challenge Trump's approach to freezing a conflict that has slid into the rearview mirror. Zelenskyy is far from the only wildcard in play. Cornering Trump over his aggressive geopolitical maneuvering, Macron has stacked the deck with Middle Eastern power players directly caught in the crossfire of the spiraling regional violence - inviting Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, all of whom have been economically and strategically battered by the blockaded strait, alongside Egypt's crucial mediators. They join global heavyweights like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, setting the stage for an incredibly charged showdown with New Delhi. Despite their documented personal rapport, Modi and Trump will have to navigate recent raw diplomatic wounds after Trump amplified a video on Truth Social referring to India as a 'hellhole' - a move swiftly condemned by India's Ministry of External Affairs as 'uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste.' Italy's Giorgia Meloni is also back at the table, a leader famously caught on camera at last year's summit in Kananaskis dramatically rolling her eyes during a whispered, off-mic conversation with Macron - a viral moment that said more than words ever could Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he welcomes him during the G7 Leaders' Summit in Kananaskis, in Alberta, Canada at the last summit in 2025 President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and his wife Brigitte Macron, left, sit for dinner at the Jules Verne Restaurant at the Eiffel Tower in Paris back in 2017 President Donald Trump shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron during a meeting at the US Embassy, May 25, 2017, in Brussels Now, facing an American President with a notorious penchant for walking out of summits a day or two early, Macron's real challenge will simply be trying to stop the entire weekend from going up in flames Trump, meanwhile, arrives with a transactional 'America First' checklist and plenty of lingering resentment. In recent months, he has furiously lashed out at some of Washington's closest NATO allies for their stubborn unwillingness to back his military operations in the Gulf. Ironically, the one issue that should unite this fractured room is China.  Practically every leader at the table agrees on the pressing need to reduce their reliance on Beijing's grip over critical minerals and tech supply chains.  Macron is even dragging them into the mix, hosting an unprecedented pre-summit video call between G7 leaders and China to confront the structural trade imbalances The French President's original dreams of a polite, intellectual summit on AI, critical minerals, and global trade might be smothered. His grand vision was to keep the globalist flame alive before gracefully passing the G7 presidency torch to the United States for 2027. Now, facing an American President with a notorious penchant for walking out of summits a day or two early, Macron's real challenge will simply be trying to stop the entire weekend from going up in flames. The logbook for this jam-packed trip reflects the frantic pace of the coming days. According to a senior administration official, the President will arrive in Evian on Monday afternoon for a bilateral meeting with Macron and an evening working dinner. The pressure intensifies on Tuesday with a high-stakes working session alongside President Zelenskyy, followed by a gauntlet of bilateral meetings with the Emir of Qatar and the President of the UAE, capped by a working lunch with Middle Eastern leaders and a social dinner.  By the last day, the focus shifts to economic growth and a potential clash with Indian Prime Minister Modi, followed by an innovation lunch with global tech CEOs and a final dinner with Macron at the Palace of Versailles before the President departs France that evening.  The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.