Top Italian official cancels US visit after Trump insults right-wing prime minister

At the 2026 G7 Summit in Évian-les-Bains, France — which concluded on Wednesday June 17 — U.S. President Donald Trump met with leaders ranging from French President Emmanuel Macron to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also met with Trump at the G7, but Italian officials are angry over a comment Trump made about her — so angry that the deputy prime minister canceled a visit to the United States planned for June 21-22.

On X, formerly Twitter, The Hill's Julia Manchester reports, "Italy’s foreign minister cancels his trip to the U.S. after President Trump reportedly say Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni 'begged' him for a photo at the G7 Summit."

It is the "begged" part, according to Manchester, that Italian officials found offensive.

One of them is Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani, who also serves as Italy's minister of foreign affairs.

On X, Tajani posted, "The serious and offensive words of President Trump towards Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offend all of Italy. For this reason, I have decided to cancel my visit to the United States scheduled for the next 21 and 22 June."

The Rome-based Tajani, now 72, is a veteran of Italian politics. During the 1990s, he was a spokesman for then-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Tajani was a founder of the center-right Forza Italia party along with Berusconi, and he was president of the European Parliament in the late 2010s.

In a video posted on X, Meloni said, "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. There is one thing he should remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg."Italian politician and activist Alessandro Di Battista, known for his work in the Five Stars Movement, addressed the controversy as well.

In response to Tajani's post, Di Battista tweeted, "Stop buying US gas instead of Russian gas. You're pathetic with these stupid things here!"

According to India Today, the Trump/Meloni controversy "marks a significant deterioration in relations between the two right-wing leaders, who had appeared to stabilize their previously strained relationship during the G7 summit in France."

Reuters reports, "Meloni said she was 'astonished' by (Trump's) comments, which were 'completely made up.' She also chided him for acting with far greater deference to the enemies of the West than he does towards old, established allies. Underscoring how much Trump's comments have angered Meloni's government, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced he was cancelling a planned visit to the U.S. next week. The latest exchange marks a sharp deterioration in ties, coming just days after signs emerged at the G7 Summit ⁠that the two right-wing leaders had steadied a previously strained relationship following tensions this year over the war on Iran."

Reuters adds, 'Video from the event in France showed Meloni and Trump deep in conversation, sitting side-by-side on a small sofa, but the U.S. leader suggested he had merely indulged her by chatting with her."

• george conway
• noam chomsky
• civil war
• Kayleigh mcenany
• Melania trump
• drudge report
• paul krugman
• Lindsey graham
• Lincoln project
• al franken bill maher
• People of praise
• Ivanka trump
• eric trump