The US president’s comments intensify a spat between the once-close leaders that arose during the conflict with Iran.
Published June 20, 2026
US President Donald Trump has stepped up his criticism of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, claiming that the prime minister repeatedly asked for photo opportunities at a recent G7 summit to boost her popularity in the country.
President Trump’s latest comments in a Truth Social post on Saturday deepen a personal conflict between him and the right-wing Italian leader, who has been considered one of the US president’s biggest allies in Europe.
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Trump initially told Italian media on Thursday that Meloni had “begged” to pose for a photo at the G7 summit in France, and said he agreed only “because I felt sorry for her.”
Meloni responded by saying he was “stunned” by the “made up” claims.
But Trump fired back in a post on Saturday, saying the Italian prime minister had asked for the photo “many times.”
She accused Italy of trying to mend relations with the United States for domestic political reasons after Italy failed to support the United States’ actions against Iran.
“Now that the US has defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again to up the ‘numbers’. Fine!!!” Trump wrote.
Meloni on Saturday rejected President Trump’s recent comments.
“President Trump, these constant and baseless attacks are senseless,” Meloni said on the social media platform Instagram. “My popularity depends on my ability to protect Italy’s national interests, and that is exactly what I have always done,” she added.
In his post, President Trump also revived a long-standing complaint that the United States spends too much to protect “so-called” NATO allies, saying the United States is contributing hundreds of billions of dollars to protect countries such as Italy.
The comment sharply escalated a controversy that was already causing anger within Rome.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Friday that Trump’s “grave and offensive” comments about Meloni “offend the whole of Italy” and canceled a planned trip to the United States over the uproar.
President Trump shows ‘more respect for our adversaries’
Meloni, who heads Italy’s far-right Italian Brotherhood party, accused Trump of showing more respect to his Western adversaries than to his partners.
“I don’t understand why the president of the United States would behave this way toward his allies,” she said in a video posted to X in response to President Trump’s initial comments.
“It’s a shame that he doesn’t show the same commitment to the West, to America’s enemies, to leaders who are actually much more accommodating than he is,” she continued.
Meloni had spent months building a close relationship with Trump while trying to reassure European allies wary of Trump’s second term.
Speaking at the end of the G7 summit in Evian, he said the atmosphere was “very positive” and that there was “no friction” between Trump and other leaders.
However, relations between the two countries had already deteriorated during the conflict with Iran.
President Trump criticized Meloni in April after he defended him against Pope Leo XIV’s criticism of his anti-war views. “I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” Trump told Italian media at the time, adding that Meloni “was often told” that she “didn’t want to help eliminate nuclear Iran.”
