Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has hit back at Donald Trump’s claim she “begged” him for a selfie, as the nation’s foreign minister abruptly cancelled a trip to the United States.
Trump made the comment during an interview with Italian broadcaster La7 on Friday morning, after the leaders spent time together at the recent G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France.
The interviewer had asked Trump about Ukraine, but the US president raised Meloni instead, and the conversation turned to their earlier meeting.
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.
In response, 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.
After Trump made the claim, Meloni posted a video on social media rebuking the US president.
Speaking in Italian, Giorgia Meloni rebuked Trump in a post on X
Speaking in Italian, she 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.
She added: “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 term, 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 called “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.
By Friday afternoon, solidarity with Meloni had poured in from across the government and political spectrum, and included a call from President Sergio Mattarella, Italy’s widely respected head of state.
“Whoever attacks @GiorgiaMeloni attacks all of us,” posted Transport Minister Matteo Salvini.
Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said 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.”
Tajani had been due to travel to the US as early as Sunday to take part in an Italy-US business forum in Miami during which he would have met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to the US State Department.
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