The Italian government on Friday slammed U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that Premier Giorgia Meloni had “begged” for a photograph with him throughout the recent G7 summit, a pushback that suggested the longtime U.S. ally had had enough of Trump’s boasting.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani abruptly cancelled a planned trip to the US this weekend, calling Trump’s claims “serious and offensive” toward Meloni and all of Italy.
For her part, Meloni posted a video calling Trump’s claims “completely fabricated,” which she concluded with: “Italy and I don’t beg.”
Trump had made the comments in an interview broadcast Friday morning on the La7 network. The La7 correspondent had asked Trump about Ukraine, but Trump raised Meloni and the conversation turned to their meeting, caught on video, throughout the just-concluded G7 meeting in Evian-les-Bains, France. Meloni and Trump were filmed speaking at several points, including alone on a small sofa.
In accordance with La7, Trump said Meloni had “begged” him for a photo-op. Trump said he wasn’t obliged to do it but that he felt sorry for her and agreed, La7 said. The broadcaster has a dubbed version of the conversation online, not the unique English audio.
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In her video, Meloni said she was responding to Trump’s claims because “certain things deserve an instantaneous response.”
“Donald Trump’s statements are completely fabricated. I’m frankly stunned,” she said. “I don’t know why the president of the US behaves this fashion toward his own allies. In spite of everything, this isn’t the primary time this has happened.”
It was an apparent reference to an interview Trump gave to Italian every day Corriere della Sera in April by which he criticized Meloni’s refusal to back the U.S.-Israel war in Iran. Meloni didn’t respond publicly on the time.
By Friday, it appeared she had had enough of his boasts and broadsides.
From left, European Council President Antonio Costa, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, U.S. President Donald Trump, Kenya’s President William Ruto, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gather for a gaggle photo on the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, Tuesday June 16, 2026.
(Isabel Infantes/Pool Photo via AP)
“I can only say that it’s a shame he doesn’t show the identical resolve toward the enemies of the West, toward the enemies of the US — toward leaders with whom he, however, is way more accommodating,” Meloni said Friday. “But there’s one thing he must remember: Italy and I don’t beg.”
Meloni had initially sought to construct on longstanding strong U.S.-Italian ties when Trump began his second mandate, and had positioned herself as a “bridge” between Washington and the European Union. She was the lone EU head of state to attend his inauguration.
But relations have frayed over the U.S. war in Iran, which Meloni has said was illegal, and Trump’s position on Ukraine, which Italy strongly supports. Trump’s tariffs and powerful U.S. support of Israel over its war in Gaza have been other points of contention.
Along with Meloni and Tajani, Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto also rebuked Trump’s claims, saying he didn’t imagine Meloni would ever beg someone for a photograph, “not even under threat.”
“I can, nonetheless, imagine how much it cost her to put aside what Trump had said weeks ago, to serve the interests of Italy, of Europe, and of the West,” Crosetto posted on X. “Jokes of this type do no good to anyone: neither to the USA, nor to Italy, nor to the alliance.”
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