Trump Doubles Down On Attacks Against Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, Claims She Wants To ‘Be Friends Again’
President Trump escalated his feud with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday, claiming the Italian leader now wants to repair relations with him after previously denying his assertions about their interactions at the G7 summit in France.
“Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The president argued that Meloni’s political standing in Italy has suffered because she refused to support the United States’ position on preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“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.
Trump also alleged that Italy refused to allow the United States to use its airfields during operations against Iran.
“Meloni wouldn’t even let us use Italy’s landing strips for attacks on Iran,” he said.
The president then claimed that after the United States “defeated Iran militarily,” the Italian prime minister was seeking to improve relations with Washington.
“Now, after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again in order to get her ‘numbers up.’ No thanks!!!” Trump wrote.
The dispute began during last week’s G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, when Trump told an Italian journalist that Meloni “wanted a picture with me so badly” and that he “felt sorry for her.”
Meloni forcefully rejected those remarks, saying she was “frankly stunned” by the president’s comments and describing them as “made-up.”
“Neither I nor Italy ever beg,” she said in a video statement.
Italy’s Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, later canceled a planned visit to the United States that had been scheduled for next week amid the diplomatic spat.
The public rift marks a sharp turn in what had previously been a warm relationship between Trump and Meloni, who rose to power in 2022 as leader of the Brothers of Italy and had often been viewed as one of Trump’s closest allies among European leaders.