US President Donald Trump's remarks regarding Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have sparked a crisis between the two countries that has gradually begun to react amid angry Italian reactions.
Trump said in a television interview that the Italian prime minister "strongly begged him" to take a commemorative photo with him on the sidelines of the recent G7 summit hosted in the French city of Evian, claiming that he initially declined her request and agreed only out of "pity and courtesy," even though official videos of the summit showed the two leaders talking at length and comfortably on a shared couch.
Meloni's reply
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni posted a firm video on her official Instagram account, accompanied by a strongly worded phrase in which she wrote, "Italy and I do not beg," stressing that some situations call for an immediate and decisive response to protect her country's dignity.
In her video interview, Meloni described Trump's narrative as "completely fabricated and fabricated," expressing her shock at the unjustified way the US president is behaving towards his international allies, but saying that it is unfortunate that Trump does not show the same political firmness towards those she described as "enemies of the West."
Rome's Wrath
The US president's remarks sparked widespread outrage and condemnation in Italy, creating an unprecedented state of political solidarity with Meloni that crossed the country's various party spectrums.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Taiani has officially canceled his diplomatic visit to the United States scheduled for June 21-22, which was supposed to witness an important bilateral meeting with his US counterpart Marco Rubio, calling Trump's remarks "dangerous, offensive and detrimental to historical relations."
The Italian Foreign Ministry also announced in an official memorandum the suspension and cancellation of the Joint Economic Business Forum, which was scheduled to be held in the US city of Miami on June 22, as a direct protest measure.
In the same context, former Italian Prime Minister and leader of the opposition "Five Stars" movement, Giuseppe Conte, affirmed that the home front stands united against the US aggression, stating that the Italian state does not deserve to be subjected to such insult and distortion by Washington.
Italian sources indicated that the political gap between the two former allies has deepened since April 2026, following Rome's categorical refusal to support the US-Israeli war against Iran, a position that was met with sharp criticism by Pope Leo to condemn that war, which angered the White House and prompted Trump to launch a public attack against the Vatican.
The sources said that diplomatic records have preserved that Meloni was the only European leader who received a special invitation to attend Trump's inauguration in exchange for their excellent relations, but the divergent positions on the Middle East files, and Trump's recent statements about the "image of the French summit", turned the close coordination into an open rift that threatens to redefine the image of Washington and its strategic alliances on the entire European continent.