US President Donald Trump has reignited his public attacks on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, posting another mocking message on social media that has further deepened the rupture between two leaders once regarded as close political allies.
On July 5, Trump posted on Truth Social a meme showing Meloni smiling and looking towards him, accompanied by the caption “Restraining order needed”. The image was a digitally altered version of footage from the summit, edited to give Meloni an admiring, wide-eyed expression that did not appear in the original video, according to fact-checkers.
The post mocked the Italian prime minister by implying she was excessively fixated on him and followed weeks of claims by Trump that Meloni had “begged” him for a photograph during the G7 summit, held in Évian-les-Bains, eastern France, on June 15-17, 2026, an allegation she has repeatedly denied. Trump first made the claim in an interview with Italian broadcaster La7 and later repeated it on Truth Social, saying Meloni “wanted a picture with me so badly”.
The meme, published days before the July 7-8 NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, contained no policy criticism and instead appeared to be a personal jibe directed at the Italian leader. Both Trump and Meloni are expected to attend. The summit, chaired by NATO secretary general Mark Rutte, is due to focus on defence spending, support for Ukraine and strengthening the alliance’s defence industry.
The exchange marks a further deterioration in relations between Washington and Rome. Meloni had long been viewed as Trump’s closest European ideological partner, having been the only European Union leader to attend his January 2025 inauguration and repeatedly presenting herself as a bridge between the United States and Europe.
That relationship began to unravel after disagreements over US policy towards Iran and broader transatlantic security issues. Trump has openly criticised Italy’s refusal to support American military operations in the Middle East, while Meloni has defended Rome’s position as consistent with both Italian constitutional constraints and national interests. Meloni has described the US military action against Iran as illegal, and Rome declined to take part in operations linked to the Strait of Hormuz.
Following Trump’s original accusation that she had sought a photo with him “so badly”, Meloni issued a direct public rebuttal.
“Donald Trump’s statements are completely made up. Neither I nor Italy ever beg,” she said shortly afterwards in a video message, adding that she was disappointed the US president appeared to treat America’s allies more harshly than its adversaries.
Trump has since refused to back down. In the days after her rebuttal, he repeated that Meloni had asked for the photograph “over and over” and said she was “doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity”, linking this to Rome’s refusal to back US action over the Strait of Hormuz. His latest social media post appeared designed to ridicule Meloni personally rather than challenge any specific Italian policy.
For now, Meloni has not publicly responded to Trump’s latest social media attack. After rejecting his earlier accusations, the Italian prime minister has remained silent, while members of her government have sought to emphasise the importance of preserving Italy’s strategic relationship with Washington despite the personal tensions. During the June row, foreign minister Antonio Tajani cancelled a planned visit to Washington in protest, calling Trump’s claim serious and offensive, and President Sergio Mattarella telephoned Meloni in a show of solidarity.
Speaking on Italian radio station Radio 24 during the earlier stage of the dispute in June, Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto described the transatlantic relationship as “deep and rock-solid”, arguing that ties between Italy and the United States do not depend on individual governments or leaders.
