Trump strikes conciliatory tone on Iran, blessing Zarif G-7 trip

Bloomberg

President Donald Trump said he knew that Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was heading to Biarritz, site of the Group of Seven summit, and supported French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to invite him amid growing signs of active diplomacy at work.
The US leader pulled out of the Iranian nuclear deal in 2018, leaving Macron and his European allies fighting to salvage it. Yet he appears to be backing a French-led initiative to the Iranians to try and keep the agreement alive.
Officials from the UK and Germany, the other European signatories on the accord, also met with Zarif, who touched down in Biarritz for six hours on Sunday. “I knew that he was coming in and I respected the fact that he was coming in,” Trump said at a morning meeting with Egypt’s Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. “I gave my approval to President Macron and Iran has got a very difficult situation.”
Trump also held up the prospect of an upturn for the Iranian economy, which has been squeezed by renewed pressure from the US.
“Their position is not a very strong position from the standpoint of economics but that’s something — we can clear that very quickly,” he said. “I’m looking to have a really good Iran, really strong.” And he also hinted there could be news soon, saying, “We’ll see what happens. It’s all very new.”
French officials said they are proposing that Iran be allowed to sell some oil for a limited period of time, in exchange for returning to full compliance with the terms of the nuclear deal and restarting talks. Some leaders, like Germany’s Angela Merkel, said it was worthwhile for Zarif to come, suggesting the Europeans had hope of breaking the deadlock.
“The trip was made at the request of French officials and Iran had no interest in meeting with any American official,” the official ISNA news agency quoted government spokesman Ali Rabiei as saying.

Trump suggests Miami golf resort for next G7 meet
Bloomberg

Trump is already thinking that next year’s G7 summit in the United States should be in Miami — and perhaps more specifically centred around his own property at Trump Doral golf resort.
“We haven’t found anything that could even come close
to competing” with Doral, Trump said, stressing the no final decisions have been made.
Trump cited the advantages of a global summit in Miami, telling German Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of their meeting that she would be just a three-minute helicopter ride from the airport to the site.
Doral is definitely built more for play than work, and its website boasts that it’s only eight miles for the Miami airport.
It’s 800 acres, boasts four golf courses and 643 rooms, plus more than 100,000 square feet of event space — including the Donald J Trump Grand Ballroom.