'Please keep dropping bombs': Trump says G7 leaders 'thrilled' by Iran deal

ÉVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE: President Donald J Trump concluded the 52nd G7 summit in France on Wednesday, June 17, by framing his newly minted Persian Gulf peace framework as a long-term triumph rooted in one of the most controversial foreign policy maneuvers of his first term.

Speaking at a high-profile press conference in the alpine spa town of Évian-les-Bains, Trump flatly asserted that the 2020 targeted drone strike that killed Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani was the catalyst that made the current diplomatic breakthrough possible, effectively decimating Tehran's capacity to resist American terms.

The bold historical claim serves as Trump's most aggressive effort yet to build international legitimacy around the unreleased memorandum of understanding, which seeks to halt the 15-week maritime conflict.

Addressing global reporters before departing for a state dinner at the Palace of Versailles, the president mocked hawkish domestic critics and foreign policy commentators who had lobbied for an open-ended escalation.

He argued that his previous executive actions had permanently altered the regional balance of power, forcing a weakened Iranian state apparatus to accept immediate non-proliferation mandates.

Executive credits drone strike for systemic leverage

"This was years in the making. You know why? Because I was the one that killed General Soleimani!" Trump declared, describing the late commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force as a mad genius.

He asserted that the Iranian regime was never able to structurally replace the tactical mastermind, leaving their regional network exposed.

Trump dismissed critics who warned that the preliminary truce would allow Tehran to rebuild its crippled economic networks. 

He argued that past administrations were run by self-proclaimed tough guys who would drive the country right down the tubes by refusing to execute definitive actions while permanently overextending the military.

European allies welcome Hormuz reopening framework

Pivoting to his private deliberations over the past three days, Trump insisted that every world leader at the summit had expressed total relief that the administration had successfully negotiated an end to the fighting.

He maintained that European allies were ecstatic to see a framework that ensures the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

The president concluded by ridiculing the logic of his remaining political opponents on Capitol Hill who oppose any diplomatic accommodation with the regime.

"There's no one nation that came to us and said, 'please, sir, keep dropping bombs on them'. Stupid people say that," Trump noted, emphasizing that the G7 has fully unified behind his performance-based treaty architecture.