Efforts to rebuild once cordial ties between President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni failed miserably yesterday after he claimed she had “begged” him to take a photo together at the G7 summit in France. Meloni responded harshly and accused him of lying. Calling Trump’s comments “completely made up,” Meloni declared herself “astonished” and lashed out at him, saying he was more accommodating to the “enemies of the West” than to allies. In the context of the growing diplomatic dispute, the Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, abruptly canceled his participation in an important economic conference that would soon be held in Miami.
Other Italian officials also expressed outrage at Trump’s remarks. The scandal suggests that the American president’s political style is leading even European leaders who once courted him to reconsider their strategy and drop their praise of him. The rapid collapse also appeared to jeopardize Trump’s strongest remaining personal relationship in Europe following Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s April election defeat. The dispute erupted after efforts at the French summit to rekindle ties between the Republican, whose anti-immigrant policies have sparkedor criticism of the Vaticanand Meloni.
Through friendly meetings at Mar-a-Lago, the White House and elsewhere, the two had forged an extraordinarily close relationship that resulted in lavish praise for each other. But Meloni, like many other European leaders, had sought to distance himself from Trump after he declared war on Iran. The war, which caused severe economic damage globally and sent fuel prices soaring in Europe, is deeply unpopular there, and public opinion of Trump has deteriorated. However, on Wednesday, Meloni, known in Europe as “Trump’s advisor”, told the press that her relationship with the US president remained intact. Images of the two at the G-7 summit showed them chatting amicably while sitting on a sofa.
“Look, I would tell you that our relationship is still intact,” Meloni told the press. “It’s not that there have been recriminations between us, nor that we have talked about what happened in recent weeks: Donald Trump and I are two people with pretty strong personalities. We are two people who will defend our national interests with determination. We don’t need to clarify things when we disagree on something. In the end, we will understand each other’s point of view, so we start talking immediately about what needs to be done in the coming months, with the same spontaneity as the last time we saw each other.
However, his position changed yesterday, after the Italian television channel LA7 aired an interview with Trump from Thursday night in which Meloni appeared desperate to be close to him. “She’s probably glad I talked to her. I didn’t have to,” the American president told LA7. “I don’t know what to say. He begged me to take a photo. He really wanted a photo with me,” he said, and stated that he agreed because “he felt sorry for me.” Trump’s comments outraged Italians. Senator Giovanbattista Fazzolari, undersecretary of the presidency of the Council of Ministers and Meloni’s closest ally, publicly denounced these statements.
“Trump’s attacks on Giorgia Meloni are just the latest episode in a series of attacks and insults directed at European leaders,” Fazzolari declared. “It is not clear whether he is ruining historic relations between the United States and Europe intentionally or through simple clumsiness.” “With his inappropriate comments, he has achieved the difficult tarea of making the United States unpopular throughout Europe,” continued Fazzolari, “thus harming not only Europe, but, above all, the United States.” For his part, Meloni published an extraordinary video on Instagram in which he harshly refuted Trump, making comments that so far have not been as forceful.
“Donald Trump’s statements are completely fabricated. Frankly, I am amazed,” Meloni said. “I don’t understand why he behaves like this with his own allies,” he said. “Of course this is not the first time this has happened. I can only say that I regret that he does not show the same determination with the enemies of the West, with the enemies of the United States, with leaders with whom, apparently, he is much more conciliatory.” “But there is something I should remember,” Meloni added. “Neither I nor Italy ever beg.” Tajani, the Italian foreign minister, planned to accompany to the Secretary of State, Marco Rubioat an important Italian investment forum to be held in Miami next week. Yesterday, he announced on Facebook that he was retiring.
“President Trump’s serious and offensive statements about Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offend all of Italy,” Tajani wrote. “For this reason, I have decided to cancel my visit to the United States, scheduled for June 21 and 22.” In March, Italy denied landing permission to American warplanes participating in the Iran war that had attempted to land at the Sigonella air base in eastern Sicily. While Italians complained about rising gas prices due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Meloni took a stance against the war, describing it as contrary to international law. T
Following Meloni’s defeat in a key referendum on judicial reform in March, experts began to present his close relationship with Trump as more of a liability than an advantage in the eyes of the Italian public. However, his behavior at the G-7 summit seemed to evoke his former cordiality. In an open mic moment Tuesday, Meloni, provoked by a comment about friendship from European Council President António Costa, looked at Trump and said, “We have always been friends.”