President Trump and Italian PM Meloni feud

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who once enjoyed a very friendly relationship with President Trump, has had a bit of a falling out with the U.S. Head of State.

by Summer Lane | June 19, 2026

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni responded on Friday to President Donald Trump’s comments about her to an Italian news outlet about the two leaders’ interaction at the G7 Summit in France.

Her response comes after President Trump’s remarks to Italian media outlet La7 TV, per Fox: “She wanted a picture with me so ​badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her. She’s probably happy I talked to her. I didn’t have to talk to her.”

Meloni took offense to this, noting in her statement (translated): “I can only say it is disappointing that he does not show the same determination with the enemies of the West and of the United States, whose leaders he instead treats with far greater indulgence.”

She also said on X, “Neither I nor Italy ever beg.”

Tensions between PM Meloni and President Trump arose over the past few months, amid what appeared to be Italian distaste for violence in the Middle East.

The hostility from Meloni has not been overt, but it did surface following President Trump’s harsh attacks on Pope Leo XIV in April. Meloni described the president’s remarks as “unacceptable” and declined to voice support for the United States’ war on Iran.

“I thought she had courage,” Trump later said of her in an interview, via PBS News Hour. “I was wrong.”

President Trump’s recent comments about Meloni after the G7 Summit has resulted in Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani’s decision to cancel his scheduled visit to the United States.

“The serious and offensive words of President Trump towards Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offend all of Italy,” Tajani wrote on X. “For this reason, I have decided to cancel my visit to the United States scheduled for the next 21 and 22 June.”