“REAL DEAL”
Trump has been the centre of attention throughout his stay at the summit in the lakeside resort of Evian. French officials will be satisfied that the mercurial US president has stayed for the entire event – in contrast to the previous gathering in Canada where he left early.
In an unusual gesture, Macron has invited Trump to dinner at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris after the summit winds down on Wednesday afternoon.
Trump said Tuesday he had accepted Macron’s offer of dinner at Versailles as the palace of the French Sun King Louis XIV is “not gold leaf” but the “real deal”.
Macron, under pressure to show he is not fawning over Trump, has already insisted the evening at Versailles will not be a “gala” dinner.
Iran remains a key topic at the summit, with allies eager to question Trump over his deal with the Islamic republic to end the Middle East war which is due to be signed in Switzerland on Friday.
Trump said the United States was under “no obligation” to invest in Iran after the deal, adding that its main focus was that Iran would not acquire a nuclear weapon and that “all hell” would “rain down” on the country if it did.
On Ukraine, Trump has moved to a more hostile stance against Moscow, saying Russia should “make a deal” and indicating Washington could re-impose waived sanctions.
He has also adopted a more critical tone against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu “has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon,” he said, adding Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah there had taken “too long”.