🌍 The three juiciest G7 quotes
Plus: A passport with abs
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Good morning Intriguer. One of the wackier films I’ve watched this year is about the G7, titled ‘Rumours’. It’s a political satire set in a secluded resort during a G7 summit, and follows the spicy interpersonal dynamics between world leaders as they navigate a global crisis (and a series of bizarre events).
While it got a bit too much towards the end, the earlier scenes really hit the nail on the head when it came to depicting these sorts of high-profile, high-stakes events (spare a thought for the poor officers supporting these world leaders).
As we’ll see in today’s briefing, there’s also been plenty of action coming out of this year’s G7 (now G6 with Trump’s departure heyyy).
Quick update: Israel-Iran war
The conflict has now entered its sixth day.
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Will he / won’t he? – President Trump wants Iran’s “unconditional surrender”, and his defense secretary might offer more info when he addresses the Senate Armed Services Committee later today (Wednesday). But credible rumours still range from “the US will bomb Fordow tonight” to “Trump’s team is still divided” and even “the ayatollah is already in Moscow” (these three aren’t mutually exclusive, btw).
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Manoeuvres – Meanwhile, the US continues to massively ramp up its military footprint across the region, which likewise could go either way: preparing for the president’s green light, and/or posturing to squeeze concessions out of Iran.
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Strikes – Israel’s $250M per-night Iron Dome (and Iran’s depleted missile capability) have helped Israel pass the night without reported casualties, while also claiming hits on more centrifuge and arms production sites across Iran.
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Damage done: The UN’s top nuclear watchdog now assesses Israel’s strikes have indeed hurt Iran’s enrichment capabilities. As for Iran’s nuclear crown jewels deep underground at Fordow? An unnamed Israeli official is telling The Wall Street Journal that “Israel has a plan for Fordow and the ability to carry it out on its own”.
Summit season
Ever noticed how tall Germany’s Merz is? Absolute unit.
Babe, wake up, a new reality drama just dropped — apparently one of the contestants dunks on another castmate as “publicity seeking”. Uff, cue that Netflix right the way up.
No wait, sorry. That was the US president’s description of the French leader at this week’s G7 summit in Canada. But if the trailer is that spicy, we really gotta watch it all, right?
So here are the three juiciest quotes from this year’s G7
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“They should let Russia come back in” – US President Donald Trump
The president made these remarks at a media appearance alongside Canada’s Mark Carney, going on to argue that Russia’s 2014 expulsion from the G8 was a mistake: “if they were at the table, maybe we wouldn’t have had the Ukraine situation.”
He’s made this argument before (eg, 2018, also in Canada), per the president’s pledge to leave all lines open to extract better deals. But many argue it was actually the West’s limp response to Putin’s 2014 seizure of Crimea that emboldened Putin elsewhere.
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“We have been consistently clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon” – The G7 leaders (🇨🇦 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇮🇹 🇯🇵 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 + 🇪🇺)
With the Israel-Iran war raging by the time these leaders gathered for their family photo, they soon dropped a short statement a) reiterating their “support for the security of Israel”, b) labelling Iran “the principal source of regional instability and terror”, and c) urging that any end to this war should also lead to a ceasefire in Gaza.
But as Trump’s fork became clearer (hit Iran’s Fordow bunker or not), he left the summit early on Monday and was huddled with his national security team in DC by that evening.
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“This underscores the importance of standing in total solidarity with Ukraine” – Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
What’s the ‘this’? Carney is referring to Putin’s massive airstrikes on Kyiv, with 400+ drones and 30+ missiles leaving at least 15 civilians dead just as G7 leaders gathered in Canada’s remote Rockies resort with a special guest, Ukraine’s own Volodymyr Zelensky.
The message in Putin’s timing wasn’t lost on the G7, with Germany’s Merz voicing ‘cautious optimism’ the US will now impose further sanctions on Russia. But ‘optimism’ might be doing some serious heavy lifting, as Trump had already left before Zelensky arrived, and his previous deadlines on Putin have all lapsed without consequence.
Anyway, the US president ain’t the only roadblock here — Ukraine is still waiting for Merz to deliver on his own promise to share Germany’s famous Taurus missiles.
Intrigue’s Take
Oh, here’s one more bonus juicy line from this year’s G7 summit:
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“The 2025 Joint Statement of G7 Leaders”
Haha, got you. Totally got you. They didn’t issue their usual lengthy joint statement at all, beyond specific remarks like on Israel-Iran above. France’s Macron made the same call to ditch the joint G7 statement when he last hosted in 2019.
Why? Leaders don’t say this out loud (Carney suggested it was due to the US president having to return to DC), but it’s basically because the costs of trying to navigate frictions with the Trump Administration (whether around tech, trade, Russia, etc) might outweigh the value of otherwise trying to signal unity and strength.
But then… if not even a tight clique like the G7 can agree on a statement, who can? And if the G7 can’t, then… what are they even doing? Well, it’s precisely in these tense times, with the oldest of friends unable to agree on the most basic of facts, that the world still absolutely needs leaders in the same room and working their way back onto some basic shared philosophical guardrails around the kind of future we want.
Sound even smarter:
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France will take over the next G7 presidency from January.
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Meanwhile, elsewhere…
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🇺🇸 UNITED STATES – TikTok deadline pushed back. Comment: This particular can has now been kicked so far down the road, we wonder if there’s still political appetite for a TikTok ban at all. Each new 90-day stay of execution still, however, preserves a bit of US leverage in ongoing talks with China. |
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🇮🇩 INDONESIA – Volcano thwarts Bali flights. |
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🇰🇿 KAZAKHSTAN – Let’s go nuclear. Comment: That decision to split the pot between China and Russia reflects Kazakhstan’s push to balance ties between its two giant neighbours. But it’s also an indication of how rapidly things are changing: before Putin wagered all his chips on invading Ukraine, this entire Kazakh pot of gold would’ve been his for the taking. |
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🇳🇱 NETHERLANDS – Social media rules. |
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🇹🇭 THAILAND – Scammers down. Comment: Sure, it’s a reminder how alleged crims can exploit lax visas and modern tech to evade their home authorities while screwing innocents; but it’s also a reminder how (with effective Thai-Australia police partnership), the good guys can still win. |
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🇧🇷 BRAZIL – Oil me up, Gladys! Comment: For Brazil’s left-leaning administration to fast-track licensing and shrug off environmental and indigenous objections, just months out from Brazil’s COP climate summit, it’s a pretty clear indication of how far this whole issue has shifted. |
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🇹🇬 TOGO – French out. |
Extra Intrigue
The Intrigue jobs board 💼
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Senior Advisor / Director, Global Advocacy @ Minderoo in Perth
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Social Secretary @ Embassy of Singapore in Washington, D.C.
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Project Assistant @ Munich Security Conference in Berlin
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Senior Energy Advisor @ Embassy of Denmark in Tokyo
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Passport of the day
Courtesy of the Austrian State Printing Company
Many Intriguers are probably running out of passport pages and might’ve even retrieved theirs from a washing machine or two. Consular officers everywhere, we salute you.
So it’s interesting to see Suriname now join the growing list of countries shifting to biometric e-passports. By embedding biometric data and other security features, these passports aim to help prevent fraud, streamline border checks, and facilitate more travel.
Suriname picked an Austrian company to deliver its new passport, but the design still features traditional motifs like palm trees, sandy beaches, and ripped abs.
Today’s poll
Do you think the US will join the Israel-Iran war? |
Yesterday’s poll: What skill do you think is most important for modern spies?
🗺️ Foreign languages (21%)
👫 Human connection (46%)
💻 Tech skills (31%)
✍️ Other (write us!) (2%)
Your two cents:
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🗺️ L.C: “Need those foreign languages to connect with the most humans”
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👫 C.D: “Have to place yourself in a position to get intel ”
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💻 R.S: “Actually I would have chosen All of the Above. But, it wasn't there. ”
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✍️ C.C: “Audacity and imagination”
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👫 L.C: “At the end of the day, we still need people to interpret the nuances of what the technology is gathering.”