Italy seeks to contain Trump row before Nato summit

ANKARA: Italy will not escalate its dispute with US President Donald Trump, senior ministers said, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni prepares to attend the Nato summit in Ankara after a fresh social media jibe from the US leader.

Meloni had previously been regarded as one of Trump’s closer European partners, but ties have deteriorated in recent weeks after he told Italian television channel La7 last month that she had begged him for a photograph at a G7 summit in France. Meloni rejected that account and accused him of making it up.

With both leaders due at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit on Tuesday and Wednesday, Trump appeared to revive the clash by posting a doctored image on Truth Social showing Meloni looking up at him alongside the caption RESTRAINING ORDER NEEDED.

Rome avoids further confrontation

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the government would not respond further and wanted to preserve relations with Washington irrespective of who occupies the White House. Speaking to La Stampa, he said Trump often uses provocation, particularly online, and that Rome had chosen not to engage with such remarks.

“Trump speaks for himself. We have a US president who loves to provoke, especially on social media. We have decided to stop responding to these remarks,” Tajani told La Stampa newspaper.

Other senior officials, including Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, took a similar line when asked whether Italy would reply. Meloni’s office did not comment on how she would conduct herself when she meets Trump in Ankara.

A person close to the Italian prime minister, speaking on condition of anonymity, said she would not avoid Trump and instead would greet him with a smile. According to that source, Meloni was familiar with handling such situations.

Relations tested despite earlier alignment

Meloni was once an outspoken supporter of Trump and was the only European leader to attend his 2025 inauguration, seeking to build a close relationship based on their shared right-wing politics.

That relationship later came under strain when Meloni criticised Trump this year over his attacks on Pope Leo following the pontiff’s condemnation of the Iran conflict. Trump then responded by accusing her of lacking courage.

After their public exchange, Italian media speculated that the government might skip the customary US Independence Day celebration. But several senior Italian government officials attended the event at the US ambassador’s residence in Rome last week, a move seen as a sign of goodwill.

Reaction in Italy

Trump’s latest remarks prompted strong criticism in Italy, while some opposition parties also voiced support for Meloni. The newspaper Il Foglio mocked Trump on its front page on Tuesday by printing a picture of him with Russian President Vladimir Putin under the same caption he had used about Meloni.

The episode has raised questions over how the two leaders will interact at the Ankara summit, but Italian ministers have indicated they want to avoid adding strain to ties with the United States.