Italian foreign minister cancels trip to US over Trump’s comments about Meloni
By Jennifer Hansler, and Barbie Latza Nadeau
(CNN) — US President Donald Trump’s comments to an Italian media outlet about the country’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have sparked a fresh diplomatic incident.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced Friday that he was canceling a planned trip to the United States, where he was slated to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in response to Trump’s reported remarks. Tajani called Trump’s claims “offensive,” while Meloni said they were “completely fabricated.”
It is the latest dip in the deteriorating relationship between the once-close leaders and a further fracture between the US and its European allies, coming after signs of repair at the G7 summit this week in France.
In an interview with Italy’s La7 TV, Trump claimed Meloni had “begged” him for a photo at the summit, and he obliged because he felt sorry for her, according to a dubbed Italian translation posted by the outlet.
Meloni refuted the comments in a sharply worded video posted on Friday morning, saying they deserved “an immediate response.”
“Donald Trump’s statements are completely fabricated. I’m frankly shocked. I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves this way towards his own allies, and it’s not the first time it’s happened,” she said in the video posted on X.
“I can only say that it’s a shame he doesn’t have the same determination with the enemies of the West, with the enemies of the United States, with leaderships with which he instead appears much more accommodating,” she continued.
“But you must remember one thing: Italy and I never beg,” Meloni said.
Tajani was scheduled to come to the US early next week and attend the Italy-US Business, Investment, Science and Innovation Forum in Miami. According to a statement from the State Department, Rubio was slated to meet with his Italian counterpart “to advance U.S.-Italy bilateral cooperation on economic security and critical minerals.”
CNN has reached out to the White House and US State Department for comment.
It is not the first spat between Trump and Meloni. Earlier this year, the right-wing Italian leader called Trump’s criticisms of Pope Leo XIV over his opposition to the war against Iran “unacceptable.” Trump then criticized Meloni and Italy more broadly for what he said was a failure to sufficiently help the US in the conflict.
The-CNN-Wire
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