Italy canceled a planned diplomatic visit to the United States on Friday after President Trump made remarks that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called "made up" and deeply offensive.
According to CBS News, Trump told Italian TV channel La 7 that Meloni had sought out a photograph with him at the G7 summit earlier in the week, and that he had only agreed out of pity. "She begged me to take a picture with her. She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn't have taken it, but I felt sorry for her," he said, according to the channel. The network released only an Italian voice-dubbed version of the interview, and CBS News said it was unable to independently verify his remarks.
Meloni, a conservative politician who had previously been seen as one of Trump's more natural European allies, posted a video response online. "Neither I nor Italy ever beg," she said. "I don't know why the president of the United States behaves this way with his own allies."
She added: "I can only say that it's a pity he doesn't show the same determination with enemies of the West, with enemies of the United States, with leaders with whom, instead, he is far more accommodating."
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani canceled a two-day visit to the U.S. scheduled for June 21 and 22. "The serious and offensive words of President Trump … offend all of Italy," Tajani wrote Friday on X.
Trump responded on TruthSocial on Saturday, insisting that Meloni "asked, over and over, for a picture" during the G7 meeting. He also criticized Italy for not supporting U.S. military operations during the Iran war. "She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy, when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon," Trump wrote, adding that Meloni "wouldn't even let us use Italy's landing strips or runways, a great logistical inconvenience."
Meloni had said just this past Wednesday, after the G7 summit in France, that there had been a "very positive climate" and "no friction" between Trump and other leaders at the gathering. Video from the event showed the two in conversation.
The strain between them is not new. In April, after Trump criticized Pope Leo XIV's anti-war views, Meloni called his remarks "unacceptable." The relationship between Italy and the White House has grown more complicated as the Iran conflict has continued.
Meloni was the only European leader to attend Trump's second inauguration in January and had been viewed as a reliable conservative partner for the administration within Europe.
