A high-profile diplomatic dispute between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and former U.S. President Donald Trump has burst into the open following a baseless anecdote Trump shared in an Italian television interview, triggering swift backlash across Italy’s political landscape and upending once-closed political ties between the two leaders.
In a phone interview with Italy’s La7 TV network, Trump made the unsubstantiated claim that Meloni had “begged” him for a photograph during their recent meeting at the G7 summit hosted in Evian-les-Bains, France. “She begged me to take a photo with her; I felt sorry for her,” Trump told the outlet, adding that he believed Meloni was happy he had taken the time to speak with her. Multiple video and photo records from the G7 summit show the two leaders holding an extended, cordial-looking conversation on a small sofa, with Meloni smiling throughout the interaction. La7 did not release the original English audio of Trump’s comments, only airing a dubbed Italian translation.
Meloni issued a sharp, public rebuke of Trump’s claims just hours later, addressing the incident directly to her 7 million Instagram followers. She said she was “frankly stunned” by the fabricated story, questioning why the U.S. president would choose to target a close ally with such falsehoods. “I can only say it is regrettable he does not show the same determination towards the enemies of the West and towards the enemies of the US – [enemies] whose leaders he instead appears to be far more accommodating with,” she wrote. In a striking closing rebuke that emphasized Italian national dignity, she added: “But there is one thing he needs to remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg.”
In response to the escalating row, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has canceled a planned trip to the United States scheduled for early next week. The BBC has reached out to the White House to request official comment on the incident, but no response has been issued as of yet.
This public confrontation is the latest sign that the once-close political alignment between Trump and Meloni has fractured badly in recent months, rooted in deep disagreements over Trump’s decision to launch a military conflict with Iran. Meloni, who was elected Italy’s prime minister in 2022, made history as the only European leader to attend Trump’s 2025 inauguration, and was widely viewed by European Union officials as a potential diplomatic bridge between Brussels and the new U.S. administration. But the relationship began to unravel after Meloni took a firm public stance opposing the Iran war. In April, Trump hit back at her criticism during an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera, saying “I thought she had courage, but I was wrong.” Tensions rose further when Meloni publicly rejected Trump’s critical remarks about Pope Leo XIV, calling his comments labeling the Pope “weak on crime and terrible on foreign policy” completely unacceptable.
In the wake of Trump’s latest remarks, Meloni has received unified support from across Italy’s political spectrum. Italian President Sergio Mattarella placed an immediate phone call to the prime minister to express his full backing. Filippo Sensi, a left-wing opposition senator from the Democratic Party, said no leader had the right to speak to an Italian prime minister in such an arrogant tone. Giuseppe Conte, leader of the Five Star Movement, added that Italy had been subjected to unnecessary humiliation, arguing that pursuing better relations with Washington should never come at the cost of national dignity or core national interests.
From Meloni’s own Brothers of Italy party, Senate group leader Lucio Malan framed the incident as part of a wider pattern of offensive remarks Trump has directed at multiple European leaders. He noted that the G7 footage tells a far different story than Trump’s false account, suggesting that the U.S. president’s anger actually stems from Meloni’s willingness to push back against Washington when Italian interests demand it. “Trump’s words damage his own image and authority above all,” Malan added. Matteo Salvini, leader of the League and a key government ally, issued a blunt statement of solidarity: “Whoever attacks Giorgia, attacks all of us.”