Trump deepens the dustup with Italy's Meloni over a disputed photo from the G7 summit
US President Donald Trump on Saturday lashed out at Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, insisting that she asked “over and over” for a photo with him at the recent Group of Seven summit and criticising what he said was Italy’s lack of cooperation during the Iran war.
The remarks deepen the spat that began this week with the Republican president’s interview with an Italian broadcaster, during which Trump claimed Meloni “begged” for the photo during the G7 meeting in France. Meloni has called that “completely fabricated”.
US President Donald Trump lashed out at Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, insisting that she asked “over and over” for a photo with him at the G7 summit. Getty Images
The dustup led Italy’s foreign minister to cancel a planned trip to the United States as Meloni’s government lined up in her defence.
“Italian Prime Minister Gigiorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France,” Trump wrote on his social media platform while spending the weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat. He misspelled her first name in the initial post, which he later corrected.
He continued: “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 (But so did NATO, for that matter!).”
Trump’s comments were aired Friday on the La7 network. A correspondent had asked the president about Ukraine, but Trump raised Meloni and made the claim about the photo.
The dustup led Italy’s foreign minister to cancel a planned trip to the United States as Meloni’s government lined up in her defence. Getty Images
Trump said he was not obliged to take the picture with her but that he felt sorry for her and agreed, La7 said. The broadcaster put a dubbed version of the conversation online, but not the original English audio.
In his post, Trump also complained that Meloni would not allow the US to use Italy’s landing strips or runways during the Iran war even though the US is a leader in defence spending among NATO allies.
Giorgia Meloni hit back at Trump's G7 claims in a video on social media TikTok/Giorgia Meloni
That is a long-standing complaint about the military alliance and one that Trump raised before his White House meeting on Wednesday with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and the NATO summit in Turkey next month.
Italy, a key logistics hub for the US, declined in March to allow American bombers headed for the Middle East to use a base in Sicily without parliamentary approval.
Trump vented his frustration about Meloni and on Saturday claimed that she “wants to be friends again” in light of the initial deal between the US and Iran to end the war.
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