2026/6/20 14:56 (updated at 6/20 15:26) Please agree to our privacy policy to enable the news listening function. U.S. President Trump (left) and Italian Prime Minister Meloni (right) communicated on the sidelines when they attended the G7 summit on the 16th. (Reuters) (Central News Agency, Rome, comprehensive foreign reports on the 19th) U.S. President Trump said that Italian Prime Minister Meloni begged for a photo at the G7 summit, which aroused the anger of Italy. In addition to Meloni’s counterattack against Trump’s fabrication, the Italian Foreign Minister also angrily canceled his planned visit to the United States today. The Leaders’ Summit of the Group of Seven Major Industrial Countries (G7) was held from June 15 to 17 in the scenic Evian-Les-Bains in eastern France. The photo released by the Italian Prime Minister’s Office on the 17th included a photo of Giorgia Meloni and Trump chatting alone on the sidelines. Many Italian media quoted anonymous senior officials as saying that “the relationship between Meloni and Trump has broken.” But when Trump spoke to a reporter from Italian La7 TV station on the 19th, the Italian reporter asked him about the content of his conversation with Meloni at the G7 summit. Trump replied, “She’s probably happy that I talked to her. I didn’t have to talk to her.” “She begged me to take a picture with her. She wanted to take a picture with me so much. I wouldn’t have agreed, but I pity her.” Agence France-Presse reported that Meloni said “Frankly, I’m deeply shocked” about Trump’s remarks to La7 TV station. Meloni dismissed Trump’s statement as a “fabrication” and emphasized that “neither I personally nor the country of Italy will beg from others.” Meloni, who is from the far right, posted a video rebuttal on the social media platform Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also criticized Trump’s remarks on X as “vile and insulting” and announced the cancellation of his planned visit to the United States from June 21 to 22. The U.S. State Department later issued a statement confirming that a business meeting that Tagani was expected to attend in Miami with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been cancelled. Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio said Trump’s remarks had caused “painful harm” to Italy-U.S. relations; Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said “joking like this does no one any good.” When the G7 summit concluded on the 17th, Meloni praised “the atmosphere was very positive” and that there was “no friction” between her and Trump and other participating leaders. During the summit, the outside world also captured her and Trump in the same frame many times, including the two having a meeting on the sofa, and Trump later reached out and patted her on the shoulder. The two people, who are on similar political spectrums, originally had a harmonious relationship, and Meloni has always positioned himself as a bridge between Europe and the Trump administration. However, the relationship between the two parties began to become tense during the Middle East war. In April this year, Trump fiercely criticized Pope Leo XIV (Pope Leo XIV) for his anti-war stance, and Meloni chose to defend the pope. This angered Trump, who in turn became angry at Meloni. At the time, Meloni denounced Trump’s remarks as “unacceptable,” which led to Trump’s counterattack. In an interview with the Italian media “Corriere della Sera” at the time, Trump said: “She disappointed me greatly. I thought she was very brave, but it seems that I was wrong.” Trump not only accused Meloni of not assisting the United States in NATO affairs, but also threatened to withdraw US troops stationed in Italy, claiming that the Roman authorities “did not help us at all” during the Iran war. (Compiled by: Chen Yiwei) 1150620 Support Central News Agency’s choice to stand with the facts. Every donation you make is a small amount of sponsorship to protect press freedom. Download the Central News Agency’s “First-hand News” APP to get the latest news in real time. The text, pictures and audio and video of this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast or publicly transmitted and used without authorization.
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