Overview
- President Donald Trump told Italian broadcaster La7 that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni "begged" him for a photograph at the G7 summit, a claim La7 published in a dubbed segment.
- Meloni issued a video denial calling the account "completely made up" and insisted that neither she nor Italy would ever beg for a photo.
- On Friday Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani cancelled a planned trip to the United States and senior Italian ministers rallied publicly to defend Meloni and national dignity.
- Trump repeated and expanded his allegation on Truth Social, criticizing Meloni’s popularity and accusing Italy of limiting U.S. military runway access, while the White House has offered no substantive rebuttal.
- Video shows the leaders talking at the summit but La7 did not release original audio, creating verification gaps and turning a media exchange into a flashpoint that highlights wider transatlantic policy disputes and possible diplomatic fallout.