U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday sought to ease tensions with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni following his arrival in Turkey for the NATO Summit, after weeks of public sparring that had strained ties between the two leaders. Their dispute had attracted widespread attention after Trump asserted that Meloni had “begged" him for a photograph during last month's G7 Summit.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, Trump was questioned about his recent “restraining order" social media post aimed at the Italian prime minister, a post that drew a strong reaction from Rome and further intensified the diplomatic row.
“Oh, I don’t know. I think she’s a nice person. We’ve had a good relationship, but it became a little bad because she refused to help us. I didn’t put a heavy press on her, but she refused to get involved with Iran. You can imagine I wasn’t happy with that," he said.
“It soured my relationship with her a little bit, but I like her. I think she’s a nice person. I think she made a mistake."
Trump's remarks followed a post on his Truth Social account in which he shared an image captioned “Restraining Order Needed." The picture showed him standing in front of Meloni as she looked up at him smiling, accompanied by a caption implying that she was excessively interested in him.
The dispute between the two leaders began after Trump told an Italian journalist that Meloni had “begged" him for a photograph during the G7 Summit in France. Meloni responded by saying she was “appalled" by the comments and accused Trump of publicly targeting one of America's allies.
His remarks triggered political controversy in Italy and prompted criticism from members of Meloni's government. After she rejected Trump's claims, he renewed his attacks, alleging that the Italian prime minister was attempting to revive her declining popularity by repairing relations with the United States.
Italian officials subsequently cancelled plans to participate in U.S. Independence Day celebrations scheduled in Rome, with senior cabinet ministers accusing Trump of damaging the longstanding relationship between the United States and Italy.
Trump's latest social media post came on the eve of the NATO leaders' meeting in Ankara. Meloni has not publicly responded to the post, while ministers told Reuters that Italy does not intend to issue any further responses to additional remarks made by the U.S. president.
Meloni had long been regarded as one of Trump's closest international allies, but relations between the two reportedly began to unravel after she declined to support the Iran war and criticised Trump's comments directed at Pope Leo.
