Donald Trump’s one-time close ally, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, unleashed a furious tirade against the president over his “completely made-up” statements about her.
Following this week’s G7 summit in Paris, Trump called into an Italian TV network Friday and was asked what he and Meloni discussed at the meeting, Italy’s news agency Ansa reported.
“She’s probably happy I talked to her. I didn’t have to talk to her,” Trump replied. “She begged me to take a picture with her. She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her.”
The premier was so incensed by Trump’s claims that she posted a video on social media saying the comments merited an “immediate” response—and her foreign minister has canceled a trip to the U.S. next week.
“Donald Trump’s statements are completely made up,” she said in Italian. “I am frankly astonished. I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves like this towards his allies, and it’s not the first time.”
Meloni was once among Trump’s staunchest allies abroad, with European leaders hoping she could serve as a bridge between the embattled EU and the Eurosceptic Trump administration.
Cracks have since emerged in their relationship over the war in Iran and Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo XIV, which Meloni described as “unacceptable.”
In her video, she fumed at a perceived difference between the way Trump treats his closest allies and the way he talks to the leaders of some of America’s traditional opponents.
“I can only say it is disappointing that he does not show the same determination with the enemies of the West and of the United States, whose leaders he instead treats with far greater indulgence,” she said. “There is one thing he should remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg.”
The two heads of government have traditionally been bonded by their nationalistic sentiments, with Meloni the only major European leader to attend Trump’s second inauguration.
During talks about a peace deal for Gaza last year, Trump called her a “beautiful young woman.”
But things took a turn after Meloni condemned Trump’s attacks on Iran and refused to let U.S. bombers headed for the Middle East land in Italy.
She also criticized Trump for insulting Pope Leo after the pontiff called for peace in Iran.
In return, Trump said Meloni “lacked courage.”
“She is the one who is unacceptable, because she doesn’t care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if it had the chance,” he raged.
At the G7, Meloni had apparently tried to set aside some of the pair’s differences.
“We’ve always been friends,” she said, according to Ansa.
“I was abandoned,” Trump replied, smiling, prompting Meloni to immediately respond, laughing, “No, you were not.”
Afterward, she told reporters that her relationship with Trump remained “unchanged,” according to the Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore.
“There was no need to discuss what had happened in recent weeks,” she said. “We both have strong personalities, we both defend our national interests, and so there is no need to clarify this.”
She also praised the gathered leaders for reaching an agreement on Ukraine, which “wasn’t a given” in light of Trump’s past lukewarm support for Kyiv.
Trump’s remarks on Friday, though, appeared to undo much of that good will.
“The serious and offensive words of President Trump towards Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offend all of Italy,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wrote in a post on X.com. “For this reason, I have decided to cancel my visit to the United States scheduled for the next 21 and 22 June.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
