Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has sharply rejected claims by US President Donald Trump that she “begged” him for a photograph at the G7 summit, describing the remarks as “completely made up” and expressing astonishment at the comments.


The dispute follows Trump’s televised remarks to an Italian channel in which he said Meloni had been eager to secure a picture with him during the gathering in France, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.


Video from the summit in Evian-les-Bains showed the two leaders seated together during discussions on the sidelines of the G7 meeting.


“She's probably happy I talked to her. I didn't have to talk to her,” Trump was quoted as saying by La7 TV channel in a brief interview, after he himself asked the journalist about Italy's prime minister.


“She begged me to take a picture with her. She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn't have taken it, but I felt sorry for her,” Trump said, according to La7's translation.


Meloni responded in a strongly worded statement, pushing back against the US president’s account.


“Donald Trump's statements are completely made up. 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.”


“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 said, adding: “There is one thing he should remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg.”






The row has triggered diplomatic repercussions in Rome. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced the cancellation of a planned visit to the United States, calling the comments offensive.


“The ⁠serious and offensive words of President Trump towards Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offend the whole of Italy.”


One of Meloni’s closest allies, Giovanbattista Fazzolari, also issued a rare public rebuke of the US president.


“It is unclear whether out ⁠of intent or ineptitude (Trump) is wrecking the historic relations between the United States and Europe,” he said.


“With his inappropriate outbursts, he has managed no easy feat, to make the United States unpopular across the entire European continent, damaging not ⁠only Europe but above all the United States,” he added.


By Aghakazim Guliyev