According to US President Donald Trump, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni begged for a photo with him at the G7 summit. Trump said this in the White House in a short interview with a correspondent of the Italian television La7, which broadcast the material today. Trump said he agreed to the photo because he felt sorry for the Italian prime minister.
19.06.2026 13:46 , updated: 15:06
Photo: SITA/AP, Geert Vanden Wijngaert
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrives for a round table meeting at the EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 18, 2026.
Italian media released photos and videos of a brief meeting between Trump and Meloni at the G7 summit held in the French resort of Évian-Les-Bains this week. Both politicians are sitting on the couch and talking together in the footage. At the end, they shake hands.
Today, the Italian television La7 broadcast a short interview with Trump, who commented on the negotiations. “She was probably glad I talked to her, I didn’t have to,” Trump said, according to television. According to him, Meloniová begged for a photo with him. “I wouldn’t have done it, but I felt sorry for her,” said the American president about why he took the picture.
The Italian Prime Minister responded to these words by saying that Trump’s statements are “made up and that she is appalled by them.” At the same time, she added for La7 that she does not know why the US president behaves this way towards his allies.
Tajani canceled his trip to the USA
In response, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced that he was canceling his planned visit to the United States. “The serious and insulting statements of President Donald Trump against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni insult all of Italy,” X Tajani, who was scheduled to visit the US on June 21 and 22, said on the social network.
According to Tajani, Trump’s statements were intended to ridicule Meloni. During the visit, the head of Italian diplomacy was also supposed to meet with the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Relations between Meloni and Trump cooled significantly during the war with Iran. Rome reacted tepidly to the American proposal that NATO states create a naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz during the duration of the fighting with Iran. The Italian government has also, according to the media, at least once refused to agree to the use of American bases on Italian territory for combat missions over Iran.
After Trump’s return to the White House last January, Meloni strove for above-standard relations with the American president. Both conservative politicians have a similar view on migration, for example. Cooler relations with Trump, according to analysts, may benefit the Melonis politically, because the American president is extremely unpopular among Italian voters and only 15 percent of them approve of his negotiations, according to an Ipsos survey.
