Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said she is “stunned” after President Donald Trump told Italian TV that she had “begged” him for a picture, in comments that have provoked an open row between the two leaders.
Meloni said his comments were entirely “made-up,” and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has canceled a trip to the US early next week. The highly public exchange is an indication of how far their earlier close ties have frayed in the months since Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran.
Trump and Meloni were seen in close conversation at the G7 summit at Evian-les-Bains in eastern France this week. However, Trump gave a phone interview with Italy’s La7 TV channel in which he alleged: “She begged me to take a photo with her; I felt sorry for her.”
Meloni’s Response
Meloni reacted in total disbelief, saying she was “frankly stunned,” in a brief address to her seven million followers on Instagram.
“I don’t know why the US president behaves this way towards allies,” she said, adding it was not the first time it had happened. “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.”
“But there is one thing he needs to remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg.”
A Frayed Relationship
Meloni’s evident shock at Trump’s outburst comes after a series of incidents that have weakened what had begun as a close political relationship. Elected in 2022, Meloni was the sole European leader to attend Trump’s inauguration in January 2025 and was widely seen as a potential bridge-builder with the US president.
But Meloni has been outspoken in her opposition to the US war with Iran, and in April, Trump hit back in a phone interview with an Italian daily in which he said, “I thought she had courage, but I was wrong.”
When Trump accused Pope Leo XIV of being “weak on crime and terrible on foreign policy,” Meloni said his remarks were unacceptable.
Political Reactions in Italy
Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella immediately phoned Meloni to offer his support, and figures from across the political spectrum sprang to her defense. No one had the right to speak to an Italian prime minister in such an arrogant tone, said Filippo Sensi, a senator on the left from the opposition Democratic Party.
Italy did not deserve such humiliation, said Five Star Movement leader Giuseppe Conte, who added that chasing favors with Washington should never come at the expense of national dignity and interest.
From Meloni’s own Brothers of Italy party, Senate group leader Lucio Malan noted that Trump’s words were part of a broader pattern of offensive remarks he had directed at various European leaders and were damaging above all to Trump’s own image and authority.
Government ally Matteo Salvini from the League said simply: “Whoever attacks Giorgia, attacks all of us.”
The Bottom Line
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has accused President Trump of making up a story that she “begged” him for a photo at the G7 summit in France. Meloni said she was “stunned” by the comments and that “neither I nor Italy ever beg.” The row has further frayed relations between the two leaders, which have deteriorated since Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran. Italian politicians across the spectrum have rallied to Meloni’s defense, and the foreign minister has canceled a trip to the US.
