Trump mocks Meloni over photo op; ‘Neither I nor Italy beg,’ PM fires back

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Italy reacted angrily on Friday after reported comments by US President Donald Trump mocking Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, with the foreign minister cancelling a planned US visit.

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Meloni said she was “frankly stunned” by Trump’s comments to Italian channel La7.

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According to a written transcript of the phone interview provided to AFP by the network, he said Meloni “begged me for a picture” at the G7 summit this week and he agreed only because he “felt sorry for her”.

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He also suggested that Meloni was probably “happy that I talked to her, I didn’t have to talk to her”.

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Meloni called what Trump said “made up”, adding: “Neither I nor Italy ever beg.”

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“I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves this way with his own allies,” the far-right leader wrote on X.

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“I can only say that it’s a pity he doesn’t show the same determination with enemies of the West, with enemies of the United States, with leaders with whom, instead, he is far more accommodating,” she said.

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Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on X called Trump’s words “grave and offensive” and said he was cancelling a visit to the US planned for June 21 and 22.

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Justice Minister Carlo Nordio said the comments were a “painful injury” to Italy-US ties, while Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said “these jokes do not benefit anyone”.

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At the end of the G7 summit in Evian on Wednesday, Meloni had spoken of a “very positive climate” and “no friction” between Trump and other world leaders present.

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But she also said she and Trump both had “quite strong characters”. She was seen several times with the US president at the summit including a meeting on a sofa after which he appeared to pat her shoulder.

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Meloni has tried to position herself as a bridge between Europe and the Trump administration, but the relationship came under strain during the Middle East war.

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Trump turned on Meloni in April after she defended Pope Leo XIV from the US president’s harsh criticism of the pontiff’s anti-war views.

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Meloni condemned Trump’s remarks as “unacceptable” — prompting the president to turn his fire on her.

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“I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” the US president said in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera at the time.

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He accused Meloni of failing to help the United States with NATO.

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Trump has threatened to pull US troops from Italy, saying Rome “has not been of any help to us” in the Iran war.

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