Rome, June 20:
The Italian government on Friday slammed US President Donald Trump’s claim that Premier Giorgia Meloni had “begged” for a photo with him during the recent G7 summit, a pushback that suggested the longtime US ally had had enough of Trump’s boasting.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani abruptly cancelled a planned trip to the United States this weekend, calling Trump’s claims “serious and offensive” toward Meloni and all of Italy.
For her part, Meloni posted a video calling Trump’s claims “completely fabricated,” which she concluded with: “Italy and I do not beg.”
Trump had made the comments in an interview broadcast Friday morning on the La7 network. The La7 correspondent had asked Trump about Ukraine, but Trump raised Meloni and the conversation turned to their meeting, caught on video, during the just-concluded G7 meeting in Evian-les-Bains, France. Meloni and Trump were filmed speaking at several points, including alone on a small sofa.
According to La7, Trump said Meloni had “begged” him for a photo-op. Trump said he wasn’t obliged to do it but that he felt sorry for her and agreed, La7 said. The broadcaster has a dubbed version of the conversation online, not the original English audio.
In her video, Meloni said she was responding to Trump’s claims because “certain things deserve an immediate response.”
“Donald Trump’s statements are completely fabricated. I am frankly stunned,” she said. “I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves this way toward his own allies. After all, this isn’t the first time this has happened.”
It was an apparent reference to an interview Trump gave to Italian daily Corriere della Sera in April in which he criticised Meloni’s refusal to back the US-Israel war in Iran. Meloni didn’t respond publicly at the time.
By Friday, it appeared she had had enough of his boasts and broadsides.
“I can only say that it’s a shame he doesn’t show the same resolve toward the enemies of the West, toward the enemies of the United States — toward leaders with whom he, on the other hand, is much more accommodating,” Meloni said Friday. “But there’s one thing he must remember: Italy and I do not beg.”
Meloni had initially sought to build on longstanding strong US-Italian ties when Trump began his second mandate, and had positioned herself as a “bridge” between Washington and the European Union. She was the lone EU head of state to attend his inauguration.
But relations have frayed over the US war in Iran, which Meloni has said was illegal, and Trump’s position on Ukraine, which Italy strongly supports. Trump’s tariffs and strong US support of Israel over its war in Gaza have been other points of contention.
In addition to Meloni and Tajani, Italy’s Defence Minister Guido Crosetto also rebuked Trump’s claims, saying he didn’t believe Meloni would ever beg someone for a photo, “not even under threat.”
“I can, however, imagine how much it cost her to set aside what Trump had said weeks ago, to serve the interests of Italy, of Europe, and of the West,” Crosetto posted on X. “Jokes of this kind do no good to anyone: neither to the USA, nor to Italy, nor to the alliance.”