“She begged me to take a photo with her, I felt sorry for her.” American President Donald Trump said this referring to Giorgia Meloni in a phone call with Aria which brings up La7. In the conversation with La7 Trump immediately brought the conversation to Giorgia Meloni. «How is your prime minister? How are you?” he asked the interviewer, who in turn asked the US president about the conversation he had with the prime minister at the G7 in Evian. “What did he say when he met me?” Trump asked. “She’s probably glad I talked to her! I didn’t have to talk to her!”
«I don’t know what to tell her! – he added, replying to the reporter who asked him again about the meeting – she begged me to take a photo with her! He wanted a photo with me so bad. I would have also not done it, but I felt sorry for it!» he added.
Shortly afterwards, Prime Minister Meloni’s reply arrived: «Certain things deserve an immediate response. I don’t know why the US president behaves like this towards his allies. It’s not the first time this has happened, I can only say that I’m sorry that he doesn’t have the same determination towards the enemies of the West. Donald Trump’s statements are totally fabricated. I’m frankly shocked. But remember one thing: Italy and I never beg,” he added.
Tajani: “I am canceling my visit to the United States”
«President Trump’s serious and offensive words 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 June 21st and 22nd. No one can offend Italy as done by the USA.” So on X the deputy prime minister and foreign minister Antonio Tajani.
The new attack on Hormuz
In an interview with NBC, Trump returned to the prime minister, linking the issue to the Strait of Hormuz dossier. “She was a great supporter. But I don’t want her as a fan, because she wasn’t there, nor NATO, when it came to the issue of the Straits”, he declared, referring to that of Hormuz. The reference is to the US request – rejected in recent weeks by Rome and most of the allies – to contribute militarily to the reopening of the Strait in an anti-Iran key, one of the dossiers at the origin of the cooling of relations.
The La7 journalist: “It was Trump who wanted to talk about Meloni”
It was Donald Trump “who spontaneously brought up the discussion about the prime minister and their meeting.” This was said by Daniele Compatangelo, the La7 journalist who spoke on the phone with the American president and collected his criticisms against Giorgia Meloni. In an interview with ANSA, Compatangelo then explained that the White House told him not to disclose the audio: “They don’t want these types of audio to be published, they are comments that can be dubbed for them but without using the original audio.”