Trump says Meloni begged for photo. Italy's prime minister fires back.
A dispute over a claimed G7 photo request sparked a sharp public exchange between President Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Joey GarrisonWASHINGTON — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni accused President Donald Trump, a onetime close ally, of making up a story that she begged him for a photograph during this week's G7 summit in France.
"Some things deserve an immediate response. Donald Trump's statements are completely made up. I am frankly astonished," Meloni said in a June 19 interview with La7, an Italian television network.
Video from the G7 summit captured Trump and Meloni talking to each other as they sat side by side on a small couch.
Recounting their conversation, Trump told La7 in a phone interview, "She's probably happy I talked to her. I didn't have to talk to her," referring to Meloni. "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 said, according to the television network's translation.
The president's remarks prompted a pointed response from Meloni.
"I don't know why the president of the United States behaves like this towards his allies. It is not the first time, moreover," Meloni said, according to a translation of her remarks from Reuters.
"I can only say it is disappointing that he does not show the same determination with the enemies of the West and of the United States, whose leaders he instead treats with far greater indulgence," she said. "There is one thing he should remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg."
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Meloni's remarks.
Citing Trump's "serious and offensive" remarks about Meloni, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced on June 19 he was canceling a planned trip to the United States next week.
Trump and Meloni, who are aligned on the right politically, once had high praise for each other. But the Italian prime minister started to distance herself from Trump after the U.S. started the war in Iran. She also criticized the president for lashing out at Pope Leo over the war.
Trump quickly turned on Meloni. "I'm shocked by her. I thought she had courage. I was wrong," Trump told Corriere della Sera, an Italian newspaper, in April.
Contributing: Reuters
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