In an interview with the television channel La7, Trump said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had “begged” to take a joint photo with him at the G7 summit. According to him, she “wanted the photo so badly” that he “felt sorry for her,” although he “was not obliged to talk to her.”
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called Trump’s words “grave and offensive,” adding that “this insulted all of Italy.” For that reason, he canceled his visit to the United States, which had been scheduled for June 21 and 22.
Meloni herself said she was shocked by the U.S. president’s remarks and did not understand such treatment of allies. “Italy and I never beg anyone,” she said, adding that she was disappointed by Trump’s lack of the same resolve toward the West’s enemies and leaders with whom he “seems more accommodating.”
In the same interview, Trump criticized European policy on energy and migration, calling it mistaken, and on the question of Ukraine’s possible accession to the EU said he was not involved in the matter and “only wants peace.”