Trump and Meloni clash after G7 photo claim sparks row

Donald Trump’s claim that Giorgia Meloni “begged” him for a photo at the G7 summit in France has opened a public rift with Italy’s prime minister and raised new questions about a relationship both leaders had tried to portray as steady. What might have remained a private insult instead spread quickly across Rome and Washington, prompting a diplomatic backlash and an abrupt cancellation of a planned U.S. visit by Italy’s foreign minister.

Trump made the remark in an interview with Italian broadcaster La7, saying Meloni had asked repeatedly for a picture at the summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, and that he agreed only because he “felt sorry for her.” The broadcaster aired a dubbed version of the interview. At the summit from June 16 to 18, video showed Trump and Meloni seated together and speaking one-on-one on a small sofa, a scene that now looks less like a sign of warmth than a snapshot of a relationship under strain.

Meloni responded in a video posted on X, saying she was “frankly stunned” and insisting Trump’s comments were “completely made up.” She added, “Italy and I never beg.” She also questioned why Trump would speak this way about allies, saying he often appeared more accommodating toward enemies of the West and the United States than toward partners. The message was unmistakable: whatever personal chemistry had existed between the two leaders had not survived this latest public test.

Italy’s political class quickly closed ranks. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called Trump’s comments “serious” and “grave and offensive” toward Meloni and toward Italy, and canceled a planned visit to the United States set for June 21-22. Justice Minister Carlo Nordio called the remarks a “painful injury” to Italy-U.S. ties, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said such jokes do not benefit anyone, and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said an attack on Meloni was an attack on all Italians.

The dispute carries weight beyond one overheated exchange. Meloni had spent months presenting herself as a bridge between Washington and the European Union, and she had said at the G7 that her relationship with Trump was unchanged, with the two leaders sharing strong personalities but no need to clarify disagreements. That calm language now sits uneasily beside their April clash, when Trump criticized her refusal to back the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran and later said she was “no longer the same person” he once knew. For G7 partners and European capitals, the episode suggests a personal slight can quickly harden into a diplomatic problem.