US President Donald Trump has hit back at Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after she slammed him for ‘making up’ a story and portraying her unfavourably.
In a post on X, Trump said that Meloni asked him for a photo “over and over” during the G7 Summit in France. He claimed that Meloni is resorting to these tactics because she is “doing poorly” in Italy.
“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 wrote.
Trump also blamed her for supporting Iran over Italy’s ally — the United States — in the conflict. The Republican leader further said that Meloni did not let the US use Italy’s landing strips in the Iran war.
“She wouldn’t even let us use Italy’s landing strips or runways, a great logistical inconvenience, and this despite the fact the U.S. contributes hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year to protect Italy, and other “so-called” NATO Allies”, Trump added.
The US President then further claimed that Meloni “wants to be friends” to get her numbers up.
“Itani And I Never Beg”
Yesterday, Meloni had countered Trump’s claim by saying that it was “completely made up”.
While speaking to an Italian media outlet, the Republican leader said that he did not “have to” talk to Meloni and that she was “probably happy” that he spoke to her.
Trump spoke to Italy’s La7 TV channel in a brief interview and said that Meloni wanted to take a picture with him “so badly”. He then said that he would not have taken the picture, but he felt “sorry for her”.
“She’s probably happy I talked to her. I didn’t have to talk to her. 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,” Trump told the TV channel.
Meloni dismissed Trump’s comments and said that she was “astonished” by them.
Io e l’Italia non imploriamo mai. pic.twitter.com/sTpKlqWB67
— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) June 19, 2026
In a post on X, the right-wing Italian premier said that this is not the first time Trump has made insulting comments about his own allies.
“Donald Trump’s statements are completely made up, I’m frankly appalled. I don’t know why the President of the United States behaves this way with his own allies; after all, it’s not the first time it’s happened,” she said.
“I can only say it’s a shame that he doesn’t show the same determination with the enemies of the West, with the enemies of the United States, with leaderships toward which he instead proves much more accommodating. However, one thing he must remember: I and Italy never beg,” she added.