Trump arrives at G7 summit looking for momentum after announcing a deal to end the Iran war

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AP) — President Donald Trump started his visit to the G7 summit of leading industrialized nations on Monday by declaring his agreement aimed at ending the U.S. war with Iran is a potential breakthrough for global security and a chance for the U.S. to finally turn the page in its relationship with longtime adversary Iran.

The Republican U.S. president sought to make clear that he arrived in Evian-les-Bains with the wind at his back for talks with G7 leaders, including some who have been sharply critical of his managing of the 15-week-old conflict, which has led to a surge in global energy prices — though he did not immediately seem willing to lay out the details of what was in the emerging deal.

Some of those details are still to be negotiated in talks over the next 60 days, though Trump said the memorandum of understanding would likely be released after it’s signed on Friday.

“I think a lot of great things are going to happen in the Middle East right now, and very importantly the oil (price) is plummeting down and the stock market is shooting up like a rocket today,” Trump said at a meeting with the summit’s host, French President Emmanuel Macron, before they joined a working dinner with other leaders.

“The Iran deal that we made is going to bring a lot of success to the world,” he said.

Trump has had friction with Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni over failing to consult them before the decision to go to war. But sealing an agreement before jetting off to the summit might change the dynamic of the three-day gathering.

Macron at the start of Monday's meeting congratulated Trump for finding a way to an agreement.

"It’s a very important matter for peace of the whole world,” Macron said.

Trump has pushed back on the four European leaders — members of the NATO military alliance — for their lack of support for the U.S. in the conflict.

He's expected to discuss with leaders the demining of the Strait of Hormuz. Britain and France have expressed interest in assisting with the demining once the conflict is paused. Fear of potential mines is among the reasons tanker traffic has come to a halt during the war, and quickly clearing them will be crucial to regaining the confidence of commercial vessels.

Macron on Monday said France was ready to move within days to deploy assets, including mine-clearing vessels, to the region to help.

Senior U.S. officials told reporters that the while the agreement provides for the immediate opening of the strait and lifting of the U.S. naval blockade, it will take weeks for traffic to return to previous levels.

Macron invited the leaders of three nations that aren’t part of the G7 — Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — to take part in a session on the Middle East on Tuesday, when Iran is expected to be a central focus.

Trump had fiercely criticized President Barack Obama for the 2015 nuclear agreement, which Trump argued failed to stop Tehran from advancing toward a weapon and funneled billions of dollars into the Islamic Republic’s coffers.

In 2018, Trump exited the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the European Union were also signatories to the pact.

Trump in an interview on Sunday with The New York Times pushed back on comparisons to the Obama-era nuclear deal. “We negotiated from strength,” Trump said. “He was basically paying them off.”

But Trump hasn't explained how his agreement will address some key issues about Iran's nuclear program, including who will be in charge of verifying that Iran is complying with the agreement and who will destroy or remove 972 pounds (441 kilograms) of highly enriched uranium believed to be buried under nuclear sites that were badly damaged by U.S. strikes last summer.

The memorandum of understanding includes the possibility of releasing Iran's frozen funds, sanctions relief and a $300 billion fund to help rebuild Iran — all of which would be tied to Tehran meeting certain benchmarks aimed at assuaging White House concerns, senior U.S. officials told reporters on Monday.

Some Democrats and hawkish critics say Trump has failed to explain how the financial relief in his agreement will differ from what Obama did in the 2015 nuclear deal.

“For all his critique of JCPOA, we had international observers, we actually had an alliance there that included the Europeans, and Russia and China were all signatories,” Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CBS' “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Trump and an Iran hawk, expressed skepticism, saying that Congress will need to review and vote on any nuclear deal with Iran, and said he expects Vance — “the architect of the deal” — to present it.

“I am somewhat concerned that Iran’s view of the agreement seems different than what the American negotiating team is claiming,” Graham said on social media.

Leaders are expected to discuss a range of economic and trade issues. Trump told the New York Post he’s warned Macron the U.S. will “have no choice” but to slap 100% tariffs on French wines unless ​Paris eliminates its digital tax on American tech companies, renewing a long-running threat from him that dates to his first administration.

Wines and ​spirits exported to the U.S. from the European Union currently face ​a 15% ⁠tariff.

In an interview with broadcaster TF1, Macron said Monday that it’s not “for the United States to decide what European or French law should be.”

Macron also invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a working session with G7 leaders on Tuesday to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war.

At the moment, Zelenskyy is not scheduled to hold one-on-one talks with Trump while they're both in France, but Trump on Sunday held separate phone calls with Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Trump emphasized the need to end hostilities with Ukraine and stated his readiness to influence European allies and Kyiv toward that goal, including at the G7.

Zelenskyy had offered to meet Putin with Trump and European leaders at the G7 gathering, but the Kremlin didn’t reply, a Ukrainian official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, and France would be obliged as an ICC member to arrest him. The United States and Russia both oppose the court.

Trump suggested that, after an Iran deal, he'll now have greater bandwidth to focus on the Russia-Ukraine war.

"Now that this is finished, we’re going to be focusing on that,” he said, referring to diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting that followed Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.

Madhani reported from Geneva, AP writers Samuel Petrequin and John Leicester in Paris; Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine; Michelle L. Price and Collin Binkley in Washington; and Tom Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa contributed reporting.

President Donald Trump meets with French President Emmanuel Macron during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit, Monday, June 15, 2026, in Evian-les-Bains, France. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Air Force One carrying President Donald Trump landing at Geneva Airport ahead of the G7 summit, in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, June 15, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott, Pool Photo via AP)

President Donald Trump is welcomed by H.E. Guy Parmelin, President of the Swiss Confederation, Ambassador Callista Gingrich U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland, Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and Ambassador Terrence Billeter, Head of Protocol of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland, as he disembarks Air Force One at Geneva Airport, ahead of the G7 Summit in France, Monday, June 15, 2026, in Geneva, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Swiss Federal President Guy Parmelin welcomes President Donald Trump, right, after Trump disembarked from Air Force One at Geneva Airport, Switzerland, prior the G7 summit, Monday, June 15, 2026. (Martial Trezzini/Pool Photo via AP)

President Donald Trump disembarks from Air Force One at Geneva Airport, Switzerland, prior the G7 summit, Monday, June 15, 2026. (Martial Trezzini/Pool Photo via AP)

President Donald Trump disembarks Air Force One at Geneva Airport, ahead of the G7 Summit in France, Monday, June 15, 2026, in Geneva, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

French President Emmanuel Macron meets members of the emergency forces, ahead of the G7 Summit, in Evian-les-Bains, France, Monday, June 15, 2026. (Christian Hartmann/Pool Photo via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron arrives for the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A view of the Hotel Royal where leaders will meet, ahead of the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

France Police officers control cars at a check point ahead of the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

France Police officers control cars at a check point ahead of the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

A view of the Hotel Royal where leaders will meet, ahead of the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

President Donald Trump gestures as he boards Air Force One, Monday, June 15, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

President Donald Trump departs at the conclusion of the UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, June 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump attends the UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Washington with Lara Trump, Tiffany Trump and Donald Trump Jr. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) — After decades waiting for justice, relatives of women murdered by New York’s Gilgo Beach serial killer laid into him Wednesday before he was sentenced to life in prison. He told them: “I am responsible” for the crimes.

“The words I would say would have no meaning,” added Rex Heuermann, the Long Island architect who lived a secret life of violence for years before admitting he killed eight women.

The sentencing capped an extraordinary investigation that solved one of New York’s most perplexing mysteries. The seemingly unconnected and largely overlooked disappearances of young women became the focus of true-crime documentaries, books and podcasts after police began discovering the victims’ skeletal remains in the sandy scrub along a coastal parkway.

Heuermann, 62, will have no possibility of parole.

But “a million years isn’t enough,” Jasmine Robinson, a cousin of victim Jessica Taylor, said. “Nothing will ever make this right.”

“You fill me with so much repugnance, I can’t stand it,” Robinson said.

As a series of victims' kin spoke, Heuermann sat with his hands on the defense table, looking straight ahead and lightly tapping his fingers. Then Amanda Funderburg, victim Melissa Barthelemy's sister, urged Heuermann to look at her.

He glanced in her direction, but his eyes were slightly downcast.

“I hope you suffer,” said Funderburg, who recounted getting a taunting phone call from him days after Barthelemy disappeared, when Funderburg was 15 years old.

JoAnn Mack, the mother of victim Valerie Mack, told the killer that her daughter "had dreams, and you took them all away from her.”

“Justice has been done, but it can’t replace what has been taken,” Mack said.

Heuermann pleaded guilty in April to charges that he murdered seven women: Barthelemy, Mack, Taylor, Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, and Sandra Costilla.

Heuermann also admitted in court to killing an eighth victim, Karen Vergata, though he was never charged in her death. He said he strangled his victims, many of them sex workers, and dismembered some of their bodies.

“Are you at least a little sorry?” Judge Timothy Mazzei asked him Wednesday in a loud, indignant voice.

Heuermann nodded and appeared to mouth “yes.”

“You are disgusting — a despicable man, if you are a man at all,” the judge said, his voice rising. “And you are a coward.”

As Heuermann was led away in handcuffs, spectators in the packed courtroom seemed to jeer.

Most of the women disappeared between 2000 and 2010, and most of their remains were found on a parkway not far from Long Island’s Gilgo Beach, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Manhattan.

Costilla’s remains were found in 1993, more than 60 miles (100 kilometers) away in the Hamptons, while Vergata’s remains were found in 1996 on Fire Island, more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Gilgo Beach.

Brainard-Barnes’ two children, who were 7 and 1 when she disappeared in 2007, underscored Wednesday how her absence shaped their lives and how she never got to know the adults they grew up to be. Her sister, Melissa Cann, said she lived with “survivor’s guilt” for decades, wondering whether she could have done something more to protect Brainard-Barnes.

“It was a weight I carried everywhere,” Cann said, sobbing deeply. But, she said, that guilt is “not mine to carry. It is for Rex and Rex alone.”

Liliana Waterman was 3 when her mother, Megan Waterman, vanished. The daughter said she didn’t fully understand what had happened until she was about 9.

“In an instant, my world was shattered,” she said. “Was she in pain? Was she scared?”

The case spilled into view in 2010, when investigators started to find remains along Ocean Parkway while looking into the disappearance of another sex worker, Shannan Gilbert, whose death was ultimately ruled an accidental drowning.

The case went cold until 2022, when detectives linked Heuermann to a pickup truck that a witness reported seeing when one of the victims disappeared in 2010.

Eventually, they matched DNA from a pizza crust Heuermann discarded in a Manhattan trash can to genetic material extracted from highly degraded hair fragments found on the women’s remains.

Investigators amassed other evidence, including cellphone and tracking data showing Heuermann arranged meetings with some victims shortly before their disappearances. After Heuermann's 2023 arrest, prosecutors recovered what they described as a “blueprint” for the killings from his computer files.

Calling the man “a monster,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney declared that there was nothing Heuermann could say to mitigate his deeds.

As part of his guilty plea, Heuermann agreed to cooperate with the FBI’s behavioral analysis unit to help catch other serial killers.

Heuermann has spent the past three years alone in a segregated cell at the Suffolk County jail, reading crime novels, occasionally being visited by his lawyers or family, and striking up a brief correspondence with the infamous “Happy Face Killer,” according to Sheriff Errol Toulon.

Through their lawyers, Heuermann's ex-wife and two grown children said they did not attend the sentencing out of respect for the victim’s families.

Peltz reported from New York.

Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo.

Defense Attorney for convicted murderer Rex Heuermann, Michael J. Brown, arrives to the the Arthur M. Cromarty Criminal Court Complex ahead Heuermann's court sentencing Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in Suffolk County, New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

Natile Dilea, a member of a sex-workers rights group, stands in line to enter the Arthur M. Cromarty Criminal Court Complex ahead of a court sentencing for convicted murderer, Rex Heuermann, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in Suffolk County, New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

Members of a sex-workers rights group, hug each other while waiting in line to enter the Arthur M. Cromarty Criminal Court Complex ahead of a court sentencing for convicted murderer, Rex Heuermann, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in Suffolk County, New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)