Trump Says ‘No Thanks’ to Meloni, Repeats G7 Photo Claim

U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his feud with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday, rejecting any reconciliation in a Truth Social post that repeated his claim she “begged” him for a photo at the Group of Seven summit.

Trump wrote that Meloni asked “over and over” for a picture with him during the G7 meeting in France. He said she now wants to repair relations only to lift her standing at home. “No thanks,” he wrote.

Trump claimed Meloni is struggling at home, and he tied it to her refusal to back U.S. policy on Iran. He said she turned down the United States over efforts to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, while adding that NATO did the same.

He also said Italy declined to let U.S. forces use its landing strips and runways, calling it a “great logistical inconvenience.” Trump said the United States spends heavily to protect Italy and other “so-called” NATO allies.

Trump said Meloni sought to renew ties only after the United States, in his words, “defeated Iran militarily,” and that she wanted to “get her numbers up.”

The post followed a video in which Meloni rejected Trump’s earlier account of their encounter. She called his statements “completely fabricated” and said she was “frankly stunned,” according to the video she posted Thursday.

But he must remember one thing: Italy and I never beg. — Giorgia Meloni

Trump first made the photo claim in an interview with Italian broadcaster La7. “She begged me to take a picture with her,” he said, according to the broadcaster.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani canceled a planned visit to the United States in response to Trump’s earlier remarks, according to Italian news reports. The reports differed on the trip’s dates and destination.

Meloni and Trump were seen in cordial talks days earlier at the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, held June 15 to 17.

Relations between the two governments have grown strained in recent months over the U.S.-led military campaign involving Iran and Italy’s limited support for some operations, according to news reports. Meloni’s defense of Pope Leo XIV after criticism from Trump added to the friction, the reports said.

Meloni had been viewed as the European leader closest to Trump and was the only one invited to his inauguration last year.