Trump ‘totally fabricated’ claim she begged him for a photo, Italy’s Meloni says

ItalyTrump ‘totally fabricated’ claim she begged him for a photo, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni saysThe prime minister said she was “stunned” by the remarks.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the G7 summit in Evian, France, on Tuesday.Evelyn Hockstein / Pool via ReutersShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 19, 2026, 10:20 AM EDTBy Elmira AliievaThis time, Giorgia Meloni was quick to fire back: “I and Italy never beg.” Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Clearly irked at President Donald Trump’s suggestion that she had had “begged” him for a photo at the Group of Seven summit earlier this week, the Italian prime minister saidt this “totally fabricated.” The dispute erupted after Trump told Italian broadcaster La7 that Meloni had pleaded with him for a photo at the meeting leading industrialized nations in the French resort of Evian-les-Bains earlier this week. “She begged me to take a photo with her. She wanted a photo with me so badly — I could have skipped it, but I felt sorry for her,” Trump said in the brief interview, which was posted by the channel to its website Friday. In her response, the diminutive Italian leader said she was “stunned” by Trump’s comments, before taking aim at Trump’s broader approach to international relations, suggesting he treats longtime Western allies with less respect than he shows their adversaries.“I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves this way with his own allies,” Meloni said. “It’s not, after all, the first time this has happened.”She appeared to be referring to an April interview Trump gave to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in which he criticized Meloni’s refusal to back the U.S.-Israel war against Iran. Meloni didn’t respond publicly at the time.Their most recent clash quickly escalated as Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani condemned Trump’s comments as “seriou...