Italian PM Outraged After Trump Claims She 'Begged' for G7 Photo

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has reacted sharply after US President Donald Trump claimed she ‘begged’ him for a photograph during the recent G7 summit in France. Meloni called Trump’s claim ‘fabricated’. Trump’s statement also sparked anger among Italian officials, even leading to the cancellation of a planned visit by the Italian Foreign Minister to the US. The Italian government considers Trump’s comments to be a mockery of Meloni. Meloni released a video statement rebutting Trump’s claim, which was made in an interview with Italian television network La7 broadcast on Friday morning local time. In the uploaded video, Meloni said she was ‘frankly surprised’ by Trump’s comment. She called the claim ‘completely fabricated’ and stressed that ‘Italy and I do not beg’. According to a written transcript of the telephone interview provided to AFP by La7, Trump said Meloni ‘begged me to take a photo’ at the G7 summit this week, and that he agreed only because he ‘felt sorry for her’. Trump also said Meloni might be ‘happy that I spoke to her, I didn’t have to speak to her’. The La7 broadcast of the Trump interview featured a dubbed version online, not the original English audio. In the interview, the La7 correspondent asked Trump about Ukraine, but the US President then mentioned Meloni and discussed their meeting at the G7 summit. In her video, Meloni said she was responding to Trump’s latest statement because ‘certain things deserve an immediate response’. ‘Donald Trump’s statement is completely fabricated. Frankly, I am surprised,’ Meloni said. ‘I do not know why the President of the United States behaves like this towards his own allies. Besides, this is not the first time this has happened,’ she stated. Meloni appeared to be referring to an interview Trump gave to Italian daily Corriere della Sera in April, in which he criticised Meloni’s refusal to support the war waged by the US and Israel against Iran. At that time, Meloni did not respond publicly. On Friday, Meloni seemed to have had enough of Trump’s boasts and verbal attacks. ‘I can only say that it is very unfortunate he does not show the same determination towards the enemies of the West, towards the enemies of the United States, towards leaders to whom, on the other hand, he is far more accommodating,’ she said. ‘But there is one thing he must remember: Italy and I do not beg,’ Meloni stressed in her statement. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani reacted strongly, calling Trump’s statement ‘serious and offensive’ to Meloni and all of Italy. Tajani also cancelled his planned trip to the US this weekend. The Foreign Ministry confirmed in a separate statement that a business conference to be attended by Tajani and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Miami had been cancelled. Further strong reactions came from Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio, who called such comments a ‘painful injury’ to Italy-US relations, and Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, who said ‘jokes of this kind do not benefit anyone’.