Italy cancels US visit after Trump says Meloni ‘Begged’ him for photo

Newsweek - Italy's foreign minister has canceled a planned visit to the United States over comments President Donald Trump made about Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni earlier this week.

Trump told Italy's La7 broadcaster that Meloni—ideologically one of Trump's closest allies in Europe—had him "begged" for a photograph with him during the closely-watched G7 summit of world leaders between Monday and Wednesday.

"She wanted a picture with me so badly," Trump said. "I wouldn't have taken it, but I felt sorry for her."

Antonio Tajani, Italy's top diplomat, said Trump's remarks were "serious and offensive" and an affront to "all of Italy." He was expected to visit the U.S. on Sunday and Monday.

Meloni swiftly responded to Trump's claims on social media, saying she was "stunned" and that his account was made up.

"Neither I nor Italy ever beg," she said.

Meloni, whose policies—including her party's strident anti-immigration stance—often mesh with Trump's outlook, was the only European head of government to attend his January 2025 inauguration.

But relations between the two soured as the Trump administration berated Europe over defense spending and Meloni criticized the U.S.' war against Iran, with Italian authorities curbing U.S. access to Italian bases for attacks in the Middle East.

A fresh row broke out between Trump and Meloni in April, shortly after the U.S. president scolded Pope Leo over the head of the Catholic Church's condemnation of the Iran war.

Trump accused the pontiff of being "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy" in a post on Truth Social and claimed Pope Leo, an American, was elected by top church officials specifically to work with him.

"If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican," Trump said.

Meloni said it was "right and normal" for the pope to rebuke war, while Trump said the Italian leader lacked "courage."

"I don't know why the President of the United States behaves this way toward his allies; after all, it's not the first time it's happened," the Italian leader said in a brief video posted on Friday.

Giovanbattista Fazzolari, a senior Italian official, said Trump's declaration was "inappropriate," adding: "It's unclear whether by design or incompetence, he is ruining the historic relations between the United States and Europe."

"With his inappropriate outbursts, he has succeeded in the not-easy task of making the U.S. loathed across the entire European continent, damaging not only Europe but above all the United States," Fazzolari continued.

Trump and his administration have repeatedly accused Europe of overly depending on the U.S. military, while also suggesting the continent is "not heading in the right direction." He has also threatened to take over Greenland—part of NATO member Denmark—by force, deeply shaking European confidence that the U.S. is a reliable ally.