Donald Trump unleashed a new diplomatic crisis with Italy on Friday by stating in a phone interview with the Italian television channel La7 that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had "begged" him to take a photo with her during the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains (France), and that he agreed only "out of pity."
The statements, reported by El País and other international media, were broadcast by La7 dubbed in Italian, without releasing the original audio in English.
What Trump said
According to the Italian transcript from the channel, collected by the Efe agency, Trump remarked on the meeting with Meloni at the G7 as follows:
"She must be so happy that I spoke with her! I didn't have to do it! She begged me to take a photo with her! She was so eager for a picture with me. I wouldn't have agreed, but I felt sorry for her!"
In another part of the same interview, she added: “She’s probably happy that I spoke with her. I didn’t have to do it.”
Meloni's response
Meloni's reaction was immediate and emphatic.
In a video posted on her social media, the Prime Minister declared herself “frankly astonished” and outright rejected Trump's version.
"Donald Trump's statements are completely fabricated; I am frankly astonished," she stated before delivering the phrase that became the hallmark of her response
Meloni also criticized the way Trump treats his allies in contrast to his adversaries: “I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves this way with his allies: this is not the first time it has happened.”
And he added: "I can only say that it is disappointing that he does not show the same determination towards the enemies of the West and the United States, whose leaders he treats with much more leniency." This is perhaps a veiled allusion to Putin?
And he concluded: “There is something I should remind you of: neither I nor Italy have ever begged.”
The words came days after the open microphones at the G7 summit revealed informal conversations among the leaders, including a moment when Meloni seemed to be waiting to speak with Trump.
Another one showed a brief chat sitting together on a small sofa, with the prime minister smiling during the conversation.
Diplomatic crisis with immediate consequences
The incident had concrete repercussions almost immediately.
The Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, canceled his planned visit to Miami on June 21 and 22, citing the "serious and offensive words of President Trump," which he stated, "offend all of Italy."
The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, personally called Meloni to offer his support.
The Italian political response was cross-cutting.
Maurizio Lupi (Noi Moderati) was categorical: "Trump's words are unjustified and unacceptable. Anyone who knows Giorgia Meloni knows perfectly well that she would never beg for charity from anyone."
Matteo Salvini (League) summarized the position with a sentence: "Whoever attacks Giorgia, attacks all of us."
From the opposition, Democratic Party senator Filippo Sensi stated: "No one has the right to address an Italian Prime Minister in such an arrogant tone."
The leader of the Five Star Movement, Giuseppe Conte, stated that "Italy does not deserve to be humiliated in such a blatant manner."
Carlo Candela (Azione) called Trump a "compulsive liar" and a "comic bully."
The long deterioration of an alliance
The episode represents the lowest point of a relationship that began as one of the strongest between Trump and a European leader.
Meloni was the only European leader at Trump's inauguration in January 2025.
The distancing accelerated when Italy refused to participate in the U.S. war against Iran and denied the use of an airbase in Sicily.
In April 2026, Trump had already attacked Meloni in an interview with Corriere della Sera: “She is the unacceptable one. I thought she was brave, but I was wrong.”
The G7 summit in Évian seemed to have eased tensions: Meloni stated that her relationship with Trump had not changed and that there were no "recriminations."
However, the interview with La7 abruptly escalated tensions again, generating the biggest bilateral diplomatic crisis between Italy and the United States since the beginning of Trump's second term.
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