A public dispute between President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has escalated into a diplomatic controversy, with senior Italian officials expressing outrage after Trump reportedly claimed that Meloni “begged” him for a photograph during the recent G7 Summit.
According to remarks reported by Italian television channel La7, Trump said Meloni was eager to be photographed with him during the gathering of world leaders.
“She begged me to take a picture with her. She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her,” Trump said, according to the report.
The comments prompted a swift and unusually sharp response from Meloni, who has often been viewed as one of Trump’s friendliest counterparts in Europe. In a statement released Friday, the Italian leader categorically rejected the president’s account.
“Donald Trump’s statements are completely made up,” Meloni said. “I am frankly astonished. I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves like this towards his allies: it is not the first time, moreover.”
The prime minister’s criticism extended beyond the personal dispute. Meloni suggested that Trump’s confrontational approach toward allies contrasted with the way he deals with geopolitical rivals.
“I can only say it is disappointing that he does not show the same determination with the enemies of the West and of the United States, whose leaders he instead treats with far greater indulgence,” she said.
Meloni also delivered a pointed message aimed at defending both her own reputation and that of her country.
“There is one thing he should remember: Neither I nor Italy ever beg,” she declared.
The disagreement quickly grew beyond an exchange between the two leaders. Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, announced he was canceling a planned visit to the United States in response to Trump’s remarks.
Writing on X, Tajani said the comments were not merely directed at Meloni but were insulting to Italy as a whole.
“The serious and offensive words of President Trump towards Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offend all of Italy,” he wrote. “For this reason, I have decided to cancel my visit to the United States scheduled for the next 21 and 22 June.”
Trump’s reported remarks about Meloni did not stop with the photo controversy. He was also quoted as saying that the Italian prime minister should be grateful he spoke with her at the summit.
“She’s probably happy I talked to her. I didn’t have to talk to her,” Trump reportedly said.
The clash comes after earlier tensions between the two leaders. The article notes that Trump previously criticized Meloni after she described his criticism of the pope as “unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, other officials within the Italian government voiced concern that the dispute could have broader consequences for relations between the United States and Europe.
Giovanbattista Fazzolari, an undersecretary in Meloni’s office, accused Trump of damaging longstanding alliances and undermining goodwill toward the United States across Europe.
“It is unclear whether out of intent or ineptitude [Trump] is wrecking the historic relations between the United States and Europe,” Fazzolari said.
He further argued that Trump’s comments risk harming both Europe and America by fueling resentment among allies.
“With his inappropriate outbursts, he has managed no easy feat, to make the United States unpopular across the entire European continent, damaging not only Europe but above all the United States,” the official added.
The dispute highlights growing friction between Washington and one of its traditionally friendly European partners, underscoring how personal clashes among leaders can spill into broader diplomatic relationships at a time when Western alliances remain under pressure. While international summits are often intended to project unity, this latest exchange instead exposed a widening rift between two prominent conservative leaders on opposite sides of the Atlantic.
[READ MORE: Supreme Court Sides With Gun Owner in Major Second Amendment Ruling on Marijuana Use]
