Italy's latest political dustup features a familiar American name: Donald Trump. On a call with Italian reporters late Thursday, Trump claimed Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was "probably happy" he spoke with her at the G7 summit, adding, "I didn't have to." The US president then added that Meloni "wanted a picture with me so badly," saying he obliged out of pity, per Politico. Meloni fired back in a video posted online, calling Trump's account "completely made up" and insisting, "Italy and I never beg."
She said she was "stunned" by Trump's comments and criticized him for not showing similar resolve against "the enemies of the West." "I don't know why the president of the United States behaves this way toward his own allies," she said, per the AP. "This isn't the first time this has happened." The clash follows an April dispute, when Meloni labeled Trump's tirades against Pope Leo "unacceptable," prompting Trump to say she was "no longer the same person" he once knew.
At this week's G7 in France, the two national leaders met multiple times. An Italian diplomat described their first encounter as a "clarification meeting," and Meloni told reporters on Wednesday that their relationship was "unchanged." Trump's remarks, however, triggered a backlash in Rome: Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called them "serious and offensive" to all of Italy and scrapped a planned US trip, while Defense Minister Guido Crosetto criticized Trump's "lapse in style."
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