Italy has responded with fury following comments made by US President Donald Trump in which he said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni “begged me for a picture” at the G7 summit.
Meloni took to social media on Friday to set the record straight and said she was “frankly stunned” after Trump made the comments to Italian channel La7.
Meloni says Trump fabricated photo story
“Certain things merit an immediate reply. Donald Trump’s declarations are completely fabricated,” Meloni said in a video statement posted on X.
“I am frankly stunned. I don’t know why the US president behaves this way towards his own allies, after all, this isn’t the first time this has happened,” Meloni said.
“I can only say that it’s a shame he doesn’t share the same resolve towards the enemies of the West, towards the enemies of the United States, towards leaders with whom he is, on the other hand, much more accommodating,” she added.
“But the is one thing he must remember, Italy and I do not beg,” the Italian prime minister said.
The matter has led Italy’s top diplomat, Antonio Tajani, to cancel a visit to the US planned for June 21 and 22.
“The serious and offensive words of President Trump towards Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offend all of Italy,” Tajani said on X.
“For this reason, I have decided to cancel my visit to the United States scheduled for the next 21 and 22 June,” the foreign minister wrote.
According to the US State Department, a business conference that was due to be attended by Tajani and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Miami had been canceled.
What Trump is reported to have said
Trump claimed that earlier in the week, at the G7 summit, Meloni “begged me for a picture.”
The US leader said he only agreed because he “felt sorry for her.”
Trump made the comments in a telephone interview broadcast on Friday morning. Broadcaster La7 has a dubbed version of the interview online and not the original audio.
At the end of the summit in France, Meloni had said there was “no friction” with Trump and other world leaders and spoke of a “very positive climate.”
The Italian leader was also pictured several times speaking to Trump, including one instance in which she was seated next to Trump on a sofa.
Meloni has in the past positioned herself as a bridge between Europe and the Trump administration, but relations appear to have been fraying.
The conflicts in the Middle East and Trump’s comments made about Pope Leo XIV’s anti-war stance have prompted the Italian leader to speak out against the US president.
Edited by: Sean Sinico
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