Meloni | Pakistan

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni fired back at US President Donald Trump on Saturday, saying his “constant, unprovoked attacks are senseless” after he escalated a diplomatic row by accusing her of repeatedly seeking a photograph with him. The clash has opened an unusually personal rift between Trump and one of Europe’s most prominent right-wing leaders, who had sought to cast herself as a bridge between Washington and the continent during Trump’s return to power. Trump had initially told Italian broadcaster La7 that Meloni “begged” him for a picture at this week’s G7 summit in France, saying he agreed only because he “felt sorry for her.” Meloni angrily denied the claim, calling it “made up,” but Trump doubled down in a post on Truth Social, saying Meloni had asked “over and over” for a photograph during the summit. He also accused her of trying to repair relations with Washington for domestic political reasons after Italy failed to support US action against Iran. “Now, after the United States defeated I...

Italy reacted angrily on Friday after reported comments by US President Donald Trump mocking Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, with the foreign minister cancelling a planned US visit. Meloni said she was “frankly stunned” by Trump’s comments to Italian channel La7. According to a written transcript of the phone interview provided to AFP by the network, he said Meloni “begged me for a picture” at the G7 summit this week and he agreed only because he “felt sorry for her”. He also suggested that Meloni was probably “happy that I talked to her, I didn’t have to talk to her”. Meloni called what Trump said “made up”, adding: “Neither I nor Italy ever beg.” “I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves this way with his own allies,” the far-right leader wrote on X. “I can only say that it’s a pity he doesn’t show the same determination with enemies of the West, with enemies of the United States, with leaders with whom, instead, he is far more accommodating,” she said. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Taj...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took selfies at the Colosseum and admired the view over Rome ahead of talks focused on trade on Wednesday. In a video posted on X, Meloni also thanked Modi for bringing along a packet of “Melody” toffees on his visit, with the two seen laughing over the present — a play on their names. Wrapping up a tour of Europe, Modi landed in Rome on Tuesday for the first bilateral visit by an Indian prime minister to Italy in 26 years. Modi previously visited Italy for a G20 meeting in 2021 and a G7 summit in 2024. In a joint opinion in Italy’s Corriere della Sera daily, the two said they wanted to “reach and exceed the €20 billion ($23bn) target for trade between Italy and India by 2029”. Particular sectors of interest would include defence, aerospace, car parts, clean technologies and textiles, they said. “We aim to forge a powerful synergy between Italian design, manufacturing excellence, and world-class supercomputers… and India’s rapid eco...

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday launched a stinging criticism of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of his main European allies, over her unwillingness to join the Iran war. “I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” he said in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera. The interview was published the day after Meloni condemned as “unacceptable” Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo XIV, after the pontiff’s repeated calls for an end to the war in the Middle East. Trump told Corriere that it was she who was “unacceptable”, alleging she did not care if Iran had a nuclear weapon, adding that she did not want Italy to be involved in the war, which began with Israeli-US attacks on Iran, even though it gets much of its oil from the region. Meloni, Italy’s far-right leader since October 2022, has been one of Trump’s closest allies in Europe and often seeks to act as a mediator between diverging US and European views. Meloni’s allies and political opponents were swift to offer th...