Efforts to rebuild the once-warm ties between President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni imploded Friday, after Trump claimed that she had “begged” to take a photo with him at a Group of Seven summit in France. Meloni lashed back and accused him of lying.
Calling Trump’s comments “completely fabricated,” Meloni proclaimed herself “astonished” and then blasted Trump, saying he was more accommodating to “enemies of the West” than to allies.
As part of the cascading diplomatic spat, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani abruptly canceled an appearance at an upcoming major economic conference in Miami. Other Italian officials also voiced outrage over Trump’s remarks.
The blow-up suggested that Trump’s style of politics is leading even European leaders who once courted him to recalculate their approach and throw flattery of the U.S. leader to the wind.
The rapid meltdown also appeared to put in jeopardy Trump’s strongest remaining personal relationship in Europe following the election loss in April of the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban.
The feud erupted following efforts at the summit in France to rekindle ties between Trump, whose anti-immigrant policies have drawn criticism from the Vatican, and Meloni, a right-wing social conservative.
Through friendly encounters at Mar-a-Lago, the White House and elsewhere, the pair had built a remarkably close rapport resulting in profuse mutual praise.
But Meloni, like many other European leaders, had sought distance from Trump after he went to war against Iran. The war, which caused major global economic damage and sent fuel prices soaring in Europe, is deeply unpopular there, and views of Trump have soured.
Still, on Wednesday, Meloni — who became known in Europe as the “Trump whisperer” — told the press that her relationship with American president was unchanged. Images of the two at the G-7 summit had shown them chatting amicably while seated on a sofa.
“Look, I’d tell you that I found our relationship unchanged,” Meloni told the press. “It’s not that there were any recriminations between us, or that we talked about what happened over the past few weeks: Donald Trump and I are two people with fairly strong personalities. We are two people who’ll defend their national interests with determination. There’s no need for us to clarify things when we disagree on something. We’ll ultimately understand each other’s point of view, and so we started talking right away about what needs to be done in the coming months, with the same spontaneousness as the last time we met.”
Her tune changed Friday, however, after Italy’s LA7 television channel aired an interview with Trump from Thursday night that portrayed Meloni as desperate to be close to Trump.
“Probably she is happy that I talked to her. I didn’t have to talk to her.” Trump told LA7. “I don’t know what to say. She begged me for a picture. She wanted a picture with me so badly.” He claimed he agreed because he “felt sorry for her.”
Trump’s comments outraged the Italians. Sen. Giovanbattista Fazzolari, undersecretary to the presidency of the Council of Ministers, and Meloni’s closest ally, publicly denounced the comments.
“Trump’s rants on Giorgia Meloni are but the latest episode of attacks and insults aimed at European leaders,” Fazzolari said. “It’s unclear whether he’s intentionally or ineptly ruining the historic relations between the United States and Europe.”
“With his inappropriate comments, he’s succeeded in the not-easy task of making the United States unpopular throughout Europe,” Fazzolari continued, “thus damaging not only Europe but, above all, the U.S.”
Meloni, for her part, posted an extraordinary video rebuttal on Instagram, which included her harshest comments about Trump so far. “Donald Trump’s statements are completely fabricated. I’m frankly astonished,” Meloni said.
“I don’t know why the president of the United States would behave like this with his own allies,” she said. “Then again, it’s not the first time it has happened. I can only say that I’m sorry that he doesn’t have the same determination with the enemies of the West, with the enemies of the United States, with leaders with whom he is apparently much more accommodating.”
“But there’s one thing he should remember,” Meloni added. “I, and Italy, never beg.”
Tajani, the Italian foreign minister was due to join Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a major Italian investment forum in Miami next week. On Friday, Tajani announced on Facebook that he would withdraw.
“President Trump’s serious and offensive remarks about Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offend all of Italy,” Tajani wrote. “For this reason, I have decided to cancel my visit to the United States, scheduled for June 21st and 22nd.”
In March, Italy denied landing rights to U.S. war planes involved in the war in Iran that had sought to land at the Sigonella air base in eastern Sicily.
As Italians smarted over rising gas prices from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Meloni positioned herself against the war and described it as outside international law.
After Meloni lost a key referendum on judicial overhauls in March, experts began to portray her close relationship with Trump as more liability than asset in the eyes of the Italian public.
Still, their behavior at the G-7 appeared to be a flashback to their old bonhomie. In a hot mic moment on Tuesday, Meloni, prompted by a quip about friendship from European Council President António Costa, looked at Trump and said: “We have always been friends.”
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