U.S. President Donald Trump sought to lower the temperature in his increasingly public feud with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday, offering conciliatory remarks ahead of their first face-to-face meeting since a dispute over his claims that she had "begged" him for a photograph strained relations between two leaders once seen as close allies.
The two were scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara on Tuesday evening, marking their first encounter since Trump ignited controversy at last month's G7 summit in France by claiming Meloni had asked for a photo to bolster her standing ahead of Italy's 2027 elections.
The remarks drew an unusually forceful response from Meloni, who dismissed the allegation as "completely made up" and "senseless." She insisted that neither she nor Italy "beg" for political favors and called for relations between Rome and Washington to "return to normality." The diplomatic fallout deepened when Italy's foreign minister canceled a planned trip to the United States.
Despite the tension, Trump appeared eager to soften his tone as he arrived for the NATO summit.
"She's a nice person, actually," Trump told reporters, downplaying weeks of increasingly personal exchanges.
