by Stacy Meichtry, Natalie Andrews and Noemie Bisserbe
Europeans once thought they could win favor with President Trump by lavishing praise on him and pandering to his foreign-policy objectives. Those days are long gone.
As European leaders gather with Trump in person this week for the first time since the start of the Iran war, their goal will be simple: avoid a repeat of the cage match that took place on the White House lawn over the weekend.
Trump's blowups with allies over Iran and Greenland have scarred European leaders so badly that many wonder whether they can still reason with him. They are also under pressure with voters at home who increasingly question whether the U.S. is still a reliable ally.
Those wounds were still fresh as allies converged on the French lakeside town of Évian-les-Bains on Monday for a three-day meeting of the Group of Seven leading nations. Allies welcomed the interim peace deal between the U.S. and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which European officials hope will calm tensions heading into the summit. Still, the text of the deal hasn't been released or signed, leaving allies with questions about its implementation.
One question is whether the deal provides enough assurances for allies to help reopen the strait. Trump has railed against European allies over their refusal to escort ships during the war. Trump administration officials now expect allies to help the U.S. remove mines from the strait and restore the flow of oil shipments from Gulf countries.
France, Germany, Italy and the U.K. on Monday said they were committed to moving forward with an international mission to clear mines and escort commercial shipments but added that the mission must remain "strictly defensive and independent."
France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft-carrier battle group has been deployed to the region as part of the French-U.K.-led mission, but French officials say they don't want belligerent parties, including the U.S., involved in its operations. French officials also want a clear pledge from Iran that the mission won't come under attack.
"The resources are in place and ready to be deployed," French President Emmanuel Macron said, calling for the "swift and full implementation" of the deal.
While the conflict with Iran is expected to dominate the discussions, the G-7 will cover a range of issues -- from international trade and the war in Ukraine to the rise of artificial intelligence -- that create a diplomatic minefield for allies.
Before leaving for the G-7, Trump ratcheted up tensions with its host Macron, telling the New York Post the U.S. will "have no choice" but to impose a 100% tariff on French wines if France maintains its digital tax on tech giants.
"It doesn't work like that," Macron responded after arriving in Évian-les-Bains. "The digital tax is part of our legal system. It's not up to the United States to decide."
Macron, who was scheduled to give Trump a red-carpet welcome, was a no-show as Trump arrived at the summit before a phalanx of cameras.
"Everything is very nice," Trump shouted at reporters before heading inside. Later, as Trump sat down to talks with Macron, he said the two had a "fantastic relationship."
Leaders face a balancing act in taking a more assertive approach to Trump that won't deepen the rift in trans-Atlantic relations. Trump has publicly mused about withdrawing from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization over European leaders' decision to sit out the war in the Middle East. And Europeans continue to rely on vital intelligence sharing with the U.S. in their efforts to support Ukraine in fending off Russia.
Part of the problem is European leaders are unschooled in the art of transactional negotiation that Trump respects, said Majda Ruige, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. That s in part a result of Europe's decadeslong reliance on the U.S. security umbrella, which weakens the continent's negotiating position. Europe does hold some cards as the U.S.'s largest trading partner, she says, it just doesn't know how to play them.
"We're unable to say if you do that, then you can't have this. And I think part of it is, you know, the lack of this strategic culture of using leverage in general," Ruge said.
There have also been some signs that European leaders are willing to risk a more assertive posture.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz leveled criticism at the U.S. in April after the start of the Iran war. Allies weren't consulted beforehand, and the conflict was deeply unpopular in Germany, which was hit by a surge in energy prices, sinking hopes of a rebound for its embattled economy. Merz said the U.S. had no convincing strategy on Iran.
"An entire nation is being humiliated by Iranian leaders and the so-called revolutionary guards," Merz said.
The punishment was swift. Trump said in a social-media post that he would pull troops out of Germany. Days later, the Pentagon said 5,000 U.S. soldiers would leave by year-end and that the U.S. would no longer be sending a battalion equipped with conventional long-range missiles to deter Russia, as agreed in 2024.
In private, German officials were relieved. The scale of the drawdown was largely symbolic. It wasn't lost in Washington, they pointed out, that it still needed Ramstein Air Base in western Germany to run the logistics of its operations in Iran.
The European instinct to accommodate Trump is tough to override.
Macron moved the start of the summit to Monday to give Trump time to celebrate his 80th birthday at the White House. The French president is expected to host a dinner for Trump at the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday.
Macron has organized meetings that are likely to generate tensions. Leaders from across the Middle East are joining the talks on Iran. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to meet G-7 leaders Tuesday, though Trump isn't scheduled to meet one-on-one with him, administration officials said.
On Wednesday, Macron aims to steer the discussion toward a topic that European officials consider relatively safe: the need to fix economic imbalances around the world. Trump is likely to focus on the investment commitments that he has garnered from countries and his desire to limit regulation of artificial intelligence to foster its growth, White House officials said. Top tech chief executives are expected to join G-7 leaders for meetings.
Macron was among the first foreign leaders to engage in so-called Trump whispering. He began by hosting Trump at a Bastille Day military parade during his first term and continued after the 2024 election, with Macron inviting the president to the reopening of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.
The gestures haven't spared Macron from Trump's attempts to needle him. The president has publicly joked about Macron receiving what appeared to be a shove in the face from his wife during a trip to Vietnam. And when Macron texted Trump with concerns over his pursuit of Greenland, Trump posted a screenshot of the message on social media.
"Macron has always wanted to play the role of the horse whisperer, and all it's gotten him is mockery from Trump," said François Heisbourg, a former French official who is now a senior adviser at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
By now, Macron has become much more cautious, Heisbourg said, adding that Trump's push to take over Greenland was a turning point.
"That's when Europeans came to the conclusion that the U.S. had become, at best, a burdensome partner and, more likely, a hostile one," he said.
As host, Macron will be under pressure to ensure this year's G-7 doesn't end like last year's summit in Canada. That is when Trump became so bored he left early, stunning the other guests.
Write to Stacy Meichtry at Stacy.Meichtry@wsj.com, Natalie Andrews at natalie.andrews@wsj.com and Noemie Bisserbe at noemie.bisserbe@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 15, 2026 14:32 ET (18:32 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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