In an interview with Italy's La7 network, Trump claimed that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had “begged” him for a photo at the G7 summit in France. “She begged me to take a picture with her,” Trump said. “She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn't have taken it, but I felt sorry for her.”
Meloni, one of the European leaders friendliest to Trump, publicly rejected the account. “Donald Trump's statements are completely fabricated,” she said. “Italy and I do not beg.” Italy's foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, called the remarks “serious and offensive” and canceled a weekend trip to the United States that was to include a Miami business forum and a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The episode turned a friendly relationship into a diplomatic rift over a boast, and follows other instances of Trump souring on Meloni (see Trump Turns on His Last European Ally, Calling Meloni 'Unacceptable' and Saying 'I Was Wrong About Her,' After She Criticized His Attack on the Pope).