The official declined to say what changes secured Trump’s sign-off, but the statement omitted language that called for both Iran and Israel “to show restraint,” which appeared in an earlier draft of the agreement viewed by The Washington Post.

The published statement affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself and called Iran “the principal source of regional instability and terror.” It also reiterated that Iran cannot possess a nuclear weapon.

“We urge that the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza,” the statement said.

The statement was released shortly before Trump departed for Washington after a dinner with other attendees of the summit. Trump displayed some policy divisions with other G-7 leaders earlier in the day, and his reversal on the statement was a rare showing of cooperation with other presidents and prime ministers at the forum.

“I have to be back,” Trump told reporters Monday night while posing for photos. “You probably see what I see, and I have to be back as soon as I can.”

Trump had earlier posted a statement on his Truth Social platform declaring that “everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” — referring to Iran’s capital, which has a population of almost 10 million.

“AMERICA FIRST means many GREAT things, including the fact that, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” he wrote in a separate post.

Trump had been scheduled to meet Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

“I wish I could stay for tomorrow, but they understand,” Trump said.

Other presidents, including Trump in his first term, have cut short trips to the G-7 and similar international meetings in recent years. In 2023, for example, President Joe Biden shortened a trip to the Pacific region, skipping stops in Papua New Guinea and Australia to deal with the U.S. debt crisis.

But Trump’s announcement here came in a far more ominous context as the United States expands its military presence in the Middle East.

The Pentagon sent more than two dozen tanker planes from the U.S. to Europe on Sunday and Monday, a shift that U.S. officials linked to commanders’ desire for options should American facilities in the Middle East face a direct threat.

The Navy, meanwhile, canceled a port stop in Vietnam for the USS Nimitz, sending that aircraft carrier and other warships escorting it to the Middle East more quickly than had been expected, defense officials said.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement posted to X early Monday evening that he “directed the deployment of additional capabilities” to the Middle East. “Protecting U.S. forces is our top priority and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region,” the statement said, without specifying what kinds of forces he sent.

The military is “postured defensively in the region” in pursuit of a deal with Iran, Hegseth said during a Fox News interview. Jets, air defense assets and Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems are there to “set the conditions for a deal,” he said.

“President Trump’s made it clear, it’s on the table,” Hegseth said, referring to a possible deal. “The question is whether Iran will take it.”

In negotiations in recent weeks, the U.S. has insisted that Iran entirely give up its capacity to enrich nuclear fuel, which can be used for civilian reactors but, at higher levels of enrichment, can also be fashioned into bombs. Iran has insisted that it would not give up enrichment entirely, saying that it has the right to a civilian nuclear program under international treaties.

Trump and other senior U.S. officials have said the United States is not participating in Israel’s strikes on Iran. But Washington is supporting Israel in other ways, including fending off Iranian attacks.

Trump has warned Iran against attacking U.S. forces in the region, and no such attacks have taken place, U.S. officials have said.

Asked at a news conference earlier in the day about possible deeper U.S. involvement in the fighting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “President Trump will decide what is best for America. Any contribution will be welcomed.”

The G-7 summit began on the fourth day of the Middle East conflict, a fresh wave of violence in the region that undermines Trump’s commitments to serve as a global peacemaker.

Throughout the day, Trump maintained a conciliatory tone in public meetings with other world leaders.

Trump’s decision to sign the Middle East statement is a victory for the organizers of the summit, who sought to navigate conversations about Israel, the war in Ukraine and global trade without inviting Trump’s ire. In less than five months in office, Trump has upended U.S. diplomacy with a friendlier posture toward Russia and an antagonistic approach to longtime U.S. allies, including this year’s G-7 host, Canada.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he “fully” understood Trump’s decision to depart, saying he was “very grateful for the president’s presence.”

At a morning meeting, Trump confirmed that he had received signals through intermediaries that Iran wants to de-escalate the fighting. He said Tehran should have struck a deal to impose limits on its nuclear program before a 60-day deadline that he had set.

“They have to make a deal,” he said. “And it’s painful for both parties. But I’d say Iran is not winning this war … and they should talk immediately before it’s too late.”

Trump appeared in a cooperative mood even before he reversed his position on the summit statement on Iran, and avoided the personal attacks on U.S. allies that have defined many of his past international summits.

He appeared to be on good terms even with leaders on the other end of the political spectrum, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

“He’s slightly more liberal than I am, but for some reason we get along,” Trump said. He and Starmer signed a trade agreement, finalizing a pact that the administration had announced in May.

There were early signs, however, that Trump was not aligned with his counterparts. He began the summit with criticism of former leaders and said they had made a “big mistake” in 2014 when they booted Russian President Vladimir Putin from what was then called the Group of Eight. He did not acknowledge that Russia was suspended because it invaded and later annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Putin was “insulted” by the exclusion, Trump said, claiming that the war in Ukraine could have been avoided if Putin had been kept in the fold.

“You know you have your enemy at the table,” Trump said. “He wasn’t really an enemy at that time. There was no concept — if I were president, this war would have never happened.”

Trump blamed the decision to exclude Russia on then-President Barack Obama and Canadian then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, even though Trudeau did not take office until the following year. He said he was unsure whether Putin should be allowed back in the group because “too much water has gone over the dam, maybe.”

He also said it was “not a bad idea” when asked whether Chinese President Xi Jinping should be invited to future G-7 meetings.

Trump’s public appearances for the day began with a one-on-one meeting with Carney. In comments to reporters after the session, the president was complimentary. He expressed optimism that he and Carney could work out a deal on trade, and he directed no venom at the world leaders with whom he would be meeting, even as he criticized their predecessors.

“I’m a tariff person. I’ve always been a tariff — simple. It’s easy, it’s precise, and it just goes very quickly,” Trump said when asked about trade talks with the Canadians. “And I think Mark has a more complex idea, but also very good. So we’re going to look at both.”

“We’ve developed a very good relationship,” he added.

A senior Canadian government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations, said Monday that Trump and Carney had a “productive” meeting that lasted for more than an hour and focused on trade and security negotiations.

Carney told reporters that the meeting was “fantastic.”

Carney started the meeting by flattering Trump, wishing Trump and the U.S. military a belated happy birthday and praising the president’s “bold” decision-making. The tone marked a contrast from April’s federal election campaign here, in which Carney cast himself as the anti-Trump and rode to victory on a wave of anger about Trump’s tariffs and repeated threats to use “economic force” to make Canada the 51st state.

Tariffs are at the top of the agenda for many G-7 attendees, as the meeting, founded to foster economic cooperation, evolved into a negotiating forum after Trump launched trade wars against key U.S. partners.

In remarks at a session on the global economic outlook, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said that it was “in our shared interest to keep trade between G-7 countries open.” She said tariffs create uncertainty, fuel inflation and divert energy from countering China’s unfair trade practices.

“We agree: the current global trading system is not working as it should,” von der Leyen said, according to a statement released from her office. “Guardrails are clearly missing. On this point, Donald is right — there is a serious problem. But we strongly feel that the biggest challenges are not the trade between G-7 partners.”

After Monday’s bilateral meeting, Dominic LeBlanc, the Canadian cabinet minister responsible for U.S.-Canada trade, said that both sides had agreed to meet later this week and that Trump and Carney agreed to “collectively accelerate our work” on a trade and security deal. A statement from the prime minister’s office said that “the leaders agreed to pursue negotiations toward a deal within the coming 30 days.”

He declined to say whether the president had raised the prospect of Canada becoming the 51st state behind closed doors Monday.