Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has accused her one-time close ally Donald Trump of fabricating a story about her, after the US President told an Italian TV channel that she had "begged" him to take a photo with her at a G7 summit.
Ms Meloni said she was "astonished" by his comments, which she says were "completely made up".
She accused Mr Trump of acting with far greater deference to the enemies of the West than he does towards old, established allies.
His comments mark a sharp deterioration in ties, coming just days after signs at the G7 summit that the two right-wing leaders had steadied a previously strained relationship following tensions this year over the war in Iran.
Both Meloni and Trump attended the recent G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, France. (Reuters: Isabel Infantes/Pool, file photo)
Video from the event in France showed Ms Meloni and Mr Trump deep in conversation, but the US leader suggested he had merely indulged her by chatting with her.
"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," Mr Trump said, according to La7's translation.
The channel did not release the original audio, just a dubbed version.
Ms Meloni responded: "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.
"There is one thing he should remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg."
Foreign minister cancels US visit
Italy's foreign minister on Friday cancelled a visit to the United States over Mr Trump's comments.
"The grave and offensive words of President Trump… offend the whole of Italy," Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who had been due to visit the US on June 21 and 22, said on X.
Ms Meloni was once a vocal supporter of Mr Trump and the only European leader to attend his inauguration in 2025.
However, she later criticised the US president for lashing out at Pope Leo over his condemnation of the Iran conflict, distancing herself from Mr Trump after the war began.
That prompted the US leader to turn his fire on Ms Meloni.
"I'm shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong," Mr Trump said in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera at the time.
He also accused Ms Meloni of failing to help the United States with NATO, and threatened to pull US troops from Italy, saying Rome "has not been of any help to us" in the Iran war.
