Meloni slams Trump's claim she 'begged' for a photo with him as Italy's
top diplomat cancels US trip
[June 20, 2026]
By NICOLE WINFIELD
ROME (AP) — The Italian government closed ranks on Friday to slam U.S.
President Donald Trump over his claim that Premier Giorgia Meloni had
“begged” for a photo with him during the recent G7 summit, a pushback
that suggested America’s longtime European ally had had enough of
Trump’s boasting and criticism.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani abruptly cancelled a planned
trip to the United States this weekend, calling Trump’s claims “serious
and offensive” toward Meloni and all of Italy. The Foreign Ministry
later announced that the business and scientific forum Tajani was to
attend in Miami had also been called off.
Meloni for her part posted a video calling Trump’s claims “completely
fabricated" and expressing astonishment that he would invent such things
about an ally.
“Italy and I do not beg,” she said pointedly.
Trump had made the comments in an interview broadcast Friday on the La7
network. The La7 correspondent had asked Trump about Ukraine, but Trump
raised Meloni and the conversation turned to their meeting during the
just-concluded G7 meeting in Evian-les-Bains, France. Meloni and Trump
were filmed speaking at several moments, including alone on a small
sofa.
According to 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 put a dubbed version of the
conversation online, not the original English audio.
Meloni is astonished and defiant
Trump's posturing underscored how his alliance with Meloni — long seen
as one of his closest friends in Europe — has frayed over his war in
Iran, his tariffs against Europe and his complaints when anyone
disagrees with him.
He turned on Meloni in April after she refused to support his war in
Iran and stood up for Pope Leo XIV when Trump lashed out at the pontiff.
But Meloni's strong response on Friday suggested she no longer fears
Trump's verbal attacks — attacks that could actually play in her favor
in a country where public opinion of the American president has chilled,
said Lorenzo Castellani, a political scientist at Rome's Luiss Guido
Carli University.
“In some ways this was a favor to Giorgia Meloni, in the sense that she
was accused until a few months ago of being a sort of Trump's vassal in
Europe,” he said.
In her video, Meloni said she was responding to Trump’s claims because
“certain things deserve an immediate response."
“Donald Trump’s statements are completely fabricated. I am frankly
stunned,” she said. “I don’t know why the president of the United States
behaves this way toward his own allies. After all, this isn’t the first
time this has happened.”
It was an apparent reference to an interview Trump gave to Italian daily
Corriere della Sera in April in which he criticized Meloni's refusal to
back the U.S.-Israel war in Iran. Meloni didn't respond publicly at the
time. By Friday, it appeared she had had enough of his boasts and
broadsides.
“I can only say that it’s a shame he doesn’t show the same resolve
toward the enemies of the West, toward the enemies of the United States
— toward leaders with whom he, on the other hand, is much more
accommodating," Meloni said Friday. "But there’s one thing he must
remember: Italy and I do not beg.”
The White House did not return an immediate request for comment on
Meloni’s remarks.
Meloni had initially sought to build 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.
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Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni looks on ahead of a working
session at the G7 summit, in Evian-les-Bains, France, Wednesday,
June 17, 2026. (Mandel Ngan/Pool Photo via AP)
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 strong U.S. support of Israel over its war
in Gaza have been other points of contention.
Italian officials close ranks around Meloni
By Friday afternoon, solidarity for Meloni had poured in from across the
government and political spectrum, and included a call from President
Sergio Mattarella, Italy’s respected head of state.
“Whoever attacks @GiorgiaMeloni attacks all of us,” posted Transport
Minister Matteo Salvini.
Justice Minister Carlo Nordio referenced the sacrifice of American
troops in World War II in underlining the harm to U.S.-Italy relations
caused by Trump.
“The thousands of crosses marking the graves of American soldiers who
died to free us from Nazi-Fascist dictatorship did not deserve such a
painful blow to our fraternal ties,” Nordio said on X.
Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said he didn't believe Meloni would ever
beg someone for a photo, “not even under threat.”
A ‘fantastic’ friendship frays
Meloni and Trump had gotten off to a strong start, and the two leaders
are ideologically aligned on many issues. As the head of a far-right
party, Meloni backs curbing migration and promoting traditional values.
Weeks before Trump’s 2025 inauguration, Meloni met Trump at his Mar-a-Lago
retreat, a visit that she said went “beyond expectations.” It was, she
said at the time, “an opportunity to confirm a relationship that
promises to be very solid.’’
In the months after, Trump had praised her repeatedly, as “fantastic,”
“incredible,” beautiful and a friend.
But stark differences emerged over Ukraine. More recently, Meloni
sharply warned against U.S. threats to take Greenland by force, saying
she didn’t believe Washington would go so far and that regardless Italy
would never support such a move.
Meloni also received support from an unlikely ally in Europe: Spain's
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was on Friday asked about
the back and forth on the sidelines of a European Council meeting.
“About Meloni, first and foremost, all my solidarity," he told
reporters. “Secondly, I not only say this publicly in a response to your
question, but also in private during the European Council meeting I
offered her all my solidarity against this attack that is not political
or personal … I really don´t know how to qualify it.”
___
Associated Press writer Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain, contributed
to this report.
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