WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump escalated his public clash with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday, asserting that she sought a photo with him “over and over” at the recent Group of Seven summit and criticizing what he described as Italy’s lack of cooperation during the Iran war.
The conflict began earlier this week when Trump, in an interview with an Italian television network, claimed that Meloni “begged” for the photo during the G7 gathering held in France. Meloni responded sharply, calling that account “completely fabricated.” The fallout from the dispute prompted Italy’s foreign minister to call off a scheduled trip to the United States, with Meloni’s government rallying to her defense.
“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 from Camp David, where he was spending the weekend. He initially misspelled her first name in the post, though he later issued a correction.
Trump went further, writing: “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 original comments were broadcast Friday on the La7 network. A reporter had asked him about Ukraine, but Trump shifted the conversation to Meloni and brought up the photo claim on his own. According to La7, Trump said he was not required to take the picture but felt sorry for her and agreed to it. The network posted a dubbed version of the exchange online, though the original English audio was not made available.
In his social media post, Trump also took aim at Meloni for not permitting the U.S. to use Italian airstrips or runways during the Iran war, despite the U.S. being among the top defense spenders within NATO. This is a recurring grievance Trump has raised about the military alliance — one he also brought up during his White House meeting Wednesday with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, ahead of next month’s NATO summit in Turkey.
Italy, which serves as a critical logistics base for the United States, declined in March to allow American bombers bound for the Middle East to use a base in Sicily without first obtaining parliamentary approval. Trump voiced frustration over that decision and on Saturday suggested that Meloni “wants to be friends again” following the initial agreement between the U.S. and Iran to bring the war to a close.
