Trump Claims Meloni Begged for Photo, Escalating G7 Spat

The spat between Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni escalated dramatically Friday, after the U.S. president said the Italian prime minister “begged” him for a photo at the G7 summit earlier this week.

During a phone call with Italian media on Thursday night, Trump said Meloni was “probably happy I spoke to her. I didn’t have to,” adding that “she wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her.” The remarks appeared to contradict the prime minister’s recent insistence that her relationship with the president was as good as ever.

Meloni called Trump’s statement “completely made-up” in a combative video on social media, saying “Italy and I never beg.” She added that she was “stunned” by the president’s remarks, and that “even though this is not happening for the first time … it’s a pity that [Trump] does not show the same determination against the enemies of the West.”

The two leaders met several times at the three-day G7 gathering in Evian for the first time since their public spat in April when the Italian prime minister called Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo “unacceptable,” prompting the American president to say Meloni was “no longer the same person” he once knew.

An Italian diplomat described Meloni and Trump’s first tête-à-tête on the sidelines of Monday evening’s G7 dinner as a “clarification meeting.” On the margins of one of the G7 roundtables on Tuesday, European Council President António Costa joked that the two seemed to be “friends again.” Trump replied, “I’ve been abandoned,” drawing a laugh from Meloni, who said: “No, you were not.”

During the G7 final press conference on Wednesday, Meloni reassured reporters that she found the relationship with Trump “unchanged.”

“Donald Trump and I are two people with fairly strong personalities, who defend our national interests. There’s no need for us to clarify things when we disagree on something because in the end each of us understands the other person’s point of view,” she said.

Other members of the Italian government publicly defended their prime minister.

Interior Minister Matteo Salvini wrote on X that “who attacks Giorgia Meloni, attacks all of us,” while Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani attacked Trump’s comments as “serious and offensive to all of Italy,” cancelling a planned visit to the U.S. scheduled for Sunday.

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto wrote on X that he couldn’t imagine Meloni asking anyone for a photo, lamenting Trump’s “lack of style.”