Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy will no longer respond to US President Donald Trump's provocative remarks to avoid fueling disputes among NATO allies. "We have decided to stop responding to these remarks so as not to fuel disputes among our allies," Tajani said, emphasizing that Italy would move forward without engaging [1, 2].
The relations between Italy and Trump have deteriorated sharply following Trump's claim that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni "begged" him for a photo at the June G7 summit. Meloni denied the story as fabricated. In response, Trump posted a photo on his platform Truth Social showing Meloni looking up at him, captioned "RESTRAINING ORDER NEEDED," mocking her publicly [1, 3, 4, 2].
Meloni was originally a strong supporter of Trump, having been the only European leader to attend his 2025 inauguration. However, tensions mounted after Meloni defended Pope Leo XIV's anti-Iran war stance, which conflicted with Trump's hardline position. Trump also accused Meloni of refusing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz for US military use amid the Iran conflict. "She refused to help us, so my relationship with her got a bit worse. But I like her, actually I think she is a good person. But I think she made a mistake," Trump said [1, 3, 5, 6, 7].
The strained relations led Italy to cancel a planned visit by Tajani to the US in late June after Trump's remarks about Meloni were considered offensive. The diplomatic friction has complicated ties within NATO but Italy hopes to ease tensions at upcoming events [4].
Despite the tensions, Meloni is expected to attend the NATO summit held July 7-8 in Ankara along with Trump. Protocol measures are expected to minimize direct confrontations between the two leaders during the summit [3, 6].
Italy’s decision to no longer engage publicly with Trump’s provocative comments marks a shift in their diplomatic stance as the NATO summit proceeds in Ankara.
