Meloni lashes out at Trump over claim she ‘begged’ for photo, as tensions over Iran war linger

The Italian government closes ranks to slam US President Donald Trump over his claim that Premier Giorgia Meloni “begged” for a photo with him during the recent G7 summit, a pushback that suggests the longtime US ally has had enough of Trump’s boasting.

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.

Meloni for her part posts a video calling Trump’s claims “completely fabricated.” She concludes: “Italy and I do not 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, during 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.

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 has a dubbed version of the conversation online, not the original English audio.

In her video, Meloni says she is responding to Trump’s claims because “certain things deserve an immediate response.”

“Donald Trump’s statements are completely fabricated. I am frankly stunned,” she says. “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 US-Israel war in Iran. Meloni didn’t respond publicly at the time.

By today, it appears she has 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 says. “But there’s one thing he must remember: Italy and I do not beg.”