Italy's government pushed back forcefully against U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday after he claimed Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had "begged" for a photograph with him during the recent G7 summit, prompting a rare public rebuke from one of Washington's closest European allies.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani abruptly canceled a planned trip to the United States this weekend, calling Trump’s claims "serious and offensive” toward Meloni and all of Italy.
Meloni, for her part, posted a video calling Trump’s claims "completely fabricated" and expressing astonishment that he would invent such things about an ally.
"Italy and I do not beg,” she said pointedly.
Trump had made the comments in an interview broadcast Friday on the La7 network. The La7 correspondent had asked Trump about Ukraine, but Trump raised Meloni and the conversation turned to their meeting during the just-concluded G7 meeting in Evian-les-Bains, France. Meloni and Trump were filmed speaking at several moments, including alone on a small sofa.
