Trump-Meloni Feud Deepens With Fresh Exchange of Social Media Gibes

A day-old feud between President Trump and Giorgia Meloni deepened Saturday with an exchange of gibes between the president and the right-wing prime minister of Italy, who once was one of his closest allies in Europe.Ms. Meloni had reacted angrily on Friday to an interview in which Mr. Trump said she “begged” him for a photo together during this week’s G7 meetings in France. “Neither I nor Italy ever beg,” she said in denying the claim.Unfazed, Mr. Trump — who was angered by Italy’s refusal to let its bases be used in America’s recent air campaign against Iran — renewed his accusation Saturday, posting on Truth Social that she had asked him “over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France.”He wrote that she “ is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America … when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon.” Now, he went on, “after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again in order to get her ‘numbers up.’ No thanks!!!” The Italian leader, whose approval rating stands in the mid to high 30s, lashed back on Instagram, writing, “These constant unprovoked attacks are senseless. As for my popularity, being your friend certainly has not helped it, nor does it depend on my relationship with you.” She added: “My popularity is none of your concern. I suggest you focus on yours.”Ms. Meloni, whose election in 2022 was seen as foreshadowing the rise of right-wing anti-immigration parties in Western Europe, was an early supporter of Mr. Trump as he sought a second term and was the only European leader to attend his second inauguration. During a January 2025 meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump described her as a “fantastic woman” who was “really taking Europe by storm.” That warm relationship began to fray over Ms. Meloni’s support for NATO and Ukraine and worsened in March when Italy refused to let America use a base on its territory for air attacks on Iran, citing what Italy said were procedural violations by Washington and restrictions in its own constitution.Feelings hardened in April when Ms. Meloni defended Pope Leo XIV against criticisms from the American president over the cleric’s comments on the war in Iran. With Mr. Trump’s approval rating in Italy at a dismal 7 percent according to one YouGov poll, the relationship was also increasingly seen as a political liability for Ms. Meloni.Nevertheless, the two appeared to be chatting amicably together in photos and videos from the sidelines of the G7 conference. But in a later phone interview with the Italian broadcaster La7, Mr. Trump said Ms. Meloni had “begged me to take a photo with her; I felt sorry for her.”“She’s probably happy I spoke to her,” Mr. Trump added in the interview, in which his words were voiced over in Italian. The remark prompted an angry response in Rome, where Ms. Meloni described it as a “complete fabrication.”“I don’t know why the US president behaves this way towards allies,” she said on Instagram. “But there is one thing he needs to remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg.”

Trump-Meloni Feud Deepens With Fresh Exchange of Social Media Gibes

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