Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has cancelled a planned visit to the United States after Donald Trump made what Rome described as “serious and insulting” remarks about Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Tajani announced on X that he would no longer travel to Washington on June 21 and 22, escalating a diplomatic row sparked by Trump’s claim that Meloni had “begged” him for a photograph during the G7 summit in France.
The remarks were made in a telephone interview with the Italian television channel La7, according to a transcript released by the broadcaster. La7 did not publish the original audio recording.
In the interview, Trump appeared to turn immediately to the Italian prime minister, asking how she was and what she had said when she met him. He then claimed Meloni was “probably happy” that he had spoken to her.
“I didn’t have to talk to her,” Trump was quoted as saying. “I don’t know what to say. She was begging 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.”
Meloni responded sharply in a video posted on X, calling Trump’s account a “complete fabrication” and saying she was “honestly astonished” by the comments.
“I do not know why the president of the United States behaves this way towards his allies. It is not the first time,” she said.
The Italian prime minister also accused Trump of showing greater respect towards the West’s adversaries than towards long-standing US allies.
“I can only say that it is disappointing that he does not show the same determination towards the enemies of the West and of the United States, whose leaders he instead treats with much greater indulgence,” Meloni said.
She ended her response with a direct message to the US president: “There is one thing he should remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg.”
The dispute marks a striking deterioration in a relationship that, until recently, had been presented as politically close. Meloni was one of Trump’s most visible supporters in Europe and was the only European leader invited to his inauguration in 2025.
That alignment has come under pressure in recent weeks, particularly over the war in Iran. According to the Italian press, Rome refused to allow the United States to use an air base in Sicily for military strikes during the conflict, prompting Trump to accuse Italy of failing to help and to say that Meloni had changed.
Tensions also rose after Meloni defended Pope Leo XIV following Trump’s criticism of the pontiff. Trump had accused the pope of being “soft on crime” and “disastrous on foreign policy” after the pope criticised the war.
The latest episode suggests that the relationship between the two right-wing leaders, despite efforts to present a united front at the G7, has become increasingly fragile and is now moving into open political confrontation.
With information from AMNA
