US president Donald Trump looked awkward in a bizarre aerial photo of grinning world leaders at the G7 summit in France.
Trump and other members of the forum are meeting in Évian-les-Bains this week to discuss the wars in Iran and Ukraine, alongside other major international issues from the global economy to AI.
However, the smiles in the unusual drone-style shot were shared by the French hosts with the rather cheery caption “Bienvenue à Évian!”(Welcome to Evian!) on social media.
Trump, who turned 80 on Sunday, was flanked by British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron in the pictured posted Monday.
They were joined by German’s Friedrich Merz, Japan’s Sanae Takaichi, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Canada’s Mark Carney of the Group of Seven wealthy nations, which ousted Russia in 2014.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa were also sat around the table, representing the supranational organisation not included in the main seven.
Among those sharing the post, political correspondent for Canada’s CTV Mike Le Couteur wrote: “Hearing it was taken with a fisheye lens. Not sure it hits the mark.”
The G7 posed for a similar picture in 2019 during Trump’s first term in office, albeit with a very different line up of leaders.
The second day of the three day summit was held on Tuesday, with leaders from Egypt, the UAE and Qatar attending a working lunch on ending foreign crises. While they are not expected to get into detailed discussions on Iran’s nuclear programme, the group may outline their expectations, diplomats said.
Macron said the session would focus on the safe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, including a possible Franco-British-led maritime mission and identifying alternative energy routes bypassing the waterway.
Trump said the strait would be “completely open” on Friday after arriving in France late on Monday, buoyed by a preliminary deal between the US and Iran to end the wider conflict.
But European allies fear the US negotiating team may fail to secure a robust nuclear agreement or address Iran’s ballistic missile programme in the next phase, risking a prolonged standoff.
France, Britain and Germany want a role shaping the coming talks after being sidelined in recent months.
The ‘E3’ group first engaged Iran on its nuclear programme in 2003 and later worked with then-U.S. President Barack Obama to secure a 2015 deal in exchange for sanctions relief.
European diplomats also see the summit as an opportunity to convince Trump that past US proposals for a deal to end the fighting in Ukraine have been too favourable to Moscow.
European nations want to signal that they are willing to engage in talks with president Vladimir Putin while tightening sanctions on Russia and boosting military support for Ukraine.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky was also in France for talks, having arrived early on Tuesday morning ahead of a working session on ‘peacebuilding and security for Ukraine and Europe’.
