President Donald Trump has sparked a diplomatic crisis with Italy after insulting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on television.
The president told an Italian TV channel Meloni “begged” to take a picture with him. “She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her,” Trump said, according to Reuters.
Meloni responded with her own video, captioned, “Io e l’Italia non imploriamo mai,” which translates to “Neither I nor Italy ever beg.”
Io e l’Italia non imploriamo mai. pic.twitter.com/sTpKlqWB67
— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) June 19, 2026
“Donald Trump’s statements are completely made up,” Meloni said, writes Reuters. “I am frankly astonished. I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves like this towards his allies: It is not the first time, moreover.”
Trump’s flippant comment had immediate diplomatic consequences. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani canceled his upcoming trip to the U.S., writing on X, “The serious and offensive words of President Trump towards Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offend all of Italy,” according to the platform’s translation.
Other Italian politicians are also coming forward in support of Meloni, including Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini.
“Whoever attacks @GiorgiaMeloni attacks all of us,” Salvini wrote, as translated by X.
Trump and the right-wing Meloni used to be close allies, but recently sparred over Trump’s tirades against Pope Leo.
Meloni’s political ally, Italian Senator Giovanbattista Fazzolari, put it well: “It is unclear whether out of intent or ineptitude [Trump] is wrecking the historic relations between the United States and Europe,” he told Reuters.
