New Delhi: Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni Friday shot back at US President Donald Trump over his claim that she “begged” him for a photograph, dismissing it as “completely made up”.
Following her comments, Italy’s Foreign Minister and deputy PM Antonio Tajani announced that he was canceling a planned trip to the US in protest.
In a video message posted on X Friday, Meloni rejected Trump’s version of events in unusually blunt language. “Donald Trump’s statements are completely made up. I’m frankly appalled,” she said.
“I don’t know why the President of the United States behaves this way with his own allies; after all, it’s not the first time it’s happened. I can only say it’s a shame that he doesn’t show the same determination with the enemies of the West, with the enemies of the United States, with leadership toward which he instead proves much more accommodating”.
“One thing he must remember,” she added. “I and Italy never beg.”
Io e l’Italia non imploriamo mai. pic.twitter.com/sTpKlqWB67
— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) June 19, 2026
This was after Trump told the Italian press on the sidelines of the G7 that Meloni “ wanted a picture with me so badly.” “I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her,” he had said.
The turn of events mark a spiraling down of ties between the two leaders, who were once considered as close allies. That the episode turned serious was amply clear when Tajani announced the cancellation of the planned US trip.
“The serious and offensive words of President Trump towards Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offend all of Italy. For this reason, I have decided to cancel my visit to the United States scheduled for the next 21 and 22 June, “ he wrote on X.
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From friends to foes
Just days ago, both leaders appeared to have put weeks of public friction behind them at the G7 summit sharing light-hearted banter about their recent disagreements over the Iran conflict.
“You’re friends again,” European Council President António Costa joked as Trump and Meloni met on the sidelines of the summit alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“We have always been friends,” Meloni replied. “I was abandoned,” Trump quipped. “No, you were not,” she responded with a smile.
Meloni was once described as Trump’s closest ideological ally in Europe. She was the only European leader invited to his swearing in. The Italian PM also became the first major European leader to meet Trump after he returned to the White House in 2025.
She later hosted a high-profile meeting in Rome between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US Vice-President J.D. Vance. Vance then described her as a “bridge” across the Atlantic.
However, the relationship seems to have developed cracks in the past few months.
That surfaced when Pope Leo XIV—the head of the Catholic Church—called for peace and restraint amid the West Asia war. Trump’s harsh response did not go down well with Meloni, who frequently invokes Christian values and leads a party with strong support among the Catholics in Italy.
She publicly described Trump’s attack on the Pope as “unacceptable”. Trump fired back, accusing Meloni of “lacking courage” to join the war and claiming that she expected America to shoulder burdens that Italy would not.
Meloni responded that “courage is saying what you think, even when you don’t agree.”
Moreover, the Italian PM has remained firmly committed to NATO and has consistently backed Ukraine. Those positions increasingly clashed with Trump’s more confrontational approach toward NATO and his skepticism about continued Western support for Ukraine.
Italy, meanwhile, was not exempted from Trump’s trade tariffs.
Amid the Iran war, Meloni has faced growing domestic pressure due to energy prices as well as unease over Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and southern Lebanon. Tensions peaked when Rome reportedly declined to allow a US military aircraft bound for West Asia to use the Sigonella air base in Sicily.
The G7 gathering marked the first face-to-face opportunity for Trump and Meloni to publicly iron out their differences. Italy is, meanwhile, said to be considering increased purchases of US liquefied natural gas and participation in a multinational mission to safeguard shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, while also seeking stronger American backing for Ukraine, Euronews reported.
(Edited by Tony Rai)