Trump cuts short G7 trip, urges immediate evacuation of Tehran
The US president set off alarm bells by apparently calling for more than 9 million Iranians to leave the country's capital.
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump is cutting short a visit to Alberta, Canada, for the G7 summit and is returning to Washington, “because of what’s going on in the Middle East,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday night.
Fox News reported the president would convene a meeting of National Security Council officials upon his return.
Just two hours prior, Trump, in a social media post, wrote, “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”
“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life,” Trump wrote in the post.
"Iran should have signed the “deal” I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!" –President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/oniUSgsMWA
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 16, 2025
The president’s tweet set off alarm bells in Washington and in the Iranian capital, which has seen the city’s Road 77 crowded with cars as tens of thousands of people sought to flee northward on Monday after Israel’s military warned residents of the city’s third district to evacuate.
Israel’s military said earlier on Monday that it established air superiority over western Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is urging the United States to join its military campaign in order to take out Iran's deeply fortified nuclear facility at Fordow, near the holy city of Qom.
The White House, however, told ABC News that the United States is not joining the Israeli offensive against Iran.
Alex Pfeifer, White House deputy assistant to the president and principal deputy communications director, wrote on the X platform, "This is not true. American forces are maintaining their defensive posture, and that has not changed. We will defend American interests."
This is not true. American forces are maintaining their defensive posture, and that has not changed. We will defend American interests. https://t.co/XqWbDvzif0
— Alex Pfeiffer (@Pfeiffer47) June 17, 2025
Earlier on Monday, the Pentagon redirected a US Navy aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Nimitz from the Asia-Pacific region toward the Middle East ahead of its scheduled rotation.
The Nimitz is expected to overlap with the USS Carl Vinson, which remains off Iran’s coast in the Arabian Sea along with three accompanying destroyers and a US Navy cruiser.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed off on the request by US Central Command head Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla in order to “sustain our defensive posture and safeguard American personnel,” a US defense official said.
“Protecting US forces is our top priority and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region,” Hegseth said in a statement released Monday evening.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
