Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has fiercely denied Donald Trump's claim that she 'begged' him for a photograph at a G7 summit, accusing the US president of fabricating the story and showing more respect to adversaries than allies.
Trump told Italian television channel La7 that Meloni had pleaded with him to take a picture together at the summit in France. Video footage from the event shows the two leaders engaged in conversation, but Trump suggested he had simply obliged her request.
'She's probably happy I talked to her. I didn't have to talk to her,' Trump was quoted as saying. '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.'
Meloni responded with fury, calling the statements 'completely made up'. She expressed astonishment at Trump's behaviour towards allies, noting it was not the first such incident.
'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,' Meloni said. 'There is one thing he should remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg.'
Meloni, once a close Trump ally and the only European leader to attend his 2025 inauguration, has since fallen out with him over her support for Pope Leo after Trump criticized the Pontiff's condemnation of the Iran war. Trump also took issue with Meloni's reluctance to back the Middle East conflict, accusing her of lacking courage.
