The diplomatic relationship between Washington and Rome deteriorated sharply after US President Donald Trump asserted that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni “begged” him for a photograph during the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains. Meloni publicly dismissed the account as “completely fabricated,” stating that “Italy and I never beg.” The immediate consequence was the cancellation of a planned visit to the United States by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and a bilateral business forum in Miami, which Tajani described as a necessary response to remarks that “offend all of Italy.”

Viewed from Washington, the photo dispute is a surface manifestation of a deeper grievance. Trump has repeatedly accused Italy and other NATO allies of failing to reciprocate decades of US military protection. In posts on Truth Social and Oval Office remarks, he claimed that Rome refused to allow US forces to use Italian air bases during the war with Iran, causing “considerable logistical inconvenience.” He quantified annual US spending on NATO at $600 billion and warned that Washington could likewise say “no” to allies. Trump also linked Meloni’s alleged request for a photograph to her domestic political standing, suggesting she sought to “get her ‘numbers up’” after the US “defeated Iran militarily.”

In Rome, officials have framed the disagreement as a matter of sovereignty and constitutional constraints. Tajani emphasised that the Iran conflict “is a war of the United States, not of NATO,” and that Italy’s decisions on base access were consistent with its legal framework and the practice of other European states. Meloni, while calling Trump’s attacks “senseless,” has sought to contain the fallout by dispatching deputy prime ministers to the US Independence Day celebration at the American embassy in Rome. Tajani confirmed he would attend, stating that Italy remains “friends of the United States regardless of the president.”

The personal friction marks a reversal from early 2025, when Meloni was the only European leader to attend Trump’s inauguration and was frequently praised by him. According to European diplomatic sources, the shift began after Meloni’s government lost a justice-reform referendum in March, an outcome interpreted in Italy as a signal of public unease with her proximity to Trump. Subsequent points of tension included Meloni’s defence of Pope Leo XIV after Trump rebuked the pontiff over his condemnation of the Iran war, and Italy’s March denial of overflight and landing rights for US aircraft transiting to the Middle East. At the G7, Meloni was reported by a European diplomatic source to have openly challenged Trump on several points and defended European allies.

Despite the acrimony, both sides have indicated a preference to avoid a permanent rupture. Tajani stressed that Europe and the United States “are two sides of the same coin” and that a solid transatlantic relationship remains essential. The next test of the alliance is expected at the NATO summit in The Hague, where Trump intends to press allies on defence spending, while Meloni’s government faces a domestic reelection battle in 2027 amid a majority of Italians holding negative views of the US president.