Giorgia Meloni fires back at Trump's 'completely made-up claims'

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has fired back at US President Donald Trump's claim that she "begged" for a photo with him at the recent G7 meeting in France.

In a video posted to social media, Meloni said she was "shocked" at what she called Trump's "completely made-up claims".

"I don't know why the President of the United States behaves this way with his own allies," she said.

Speaking to Italian journalist Daniele Compatangelo about their meeting in France, Trump was quoted as saying: "She's probably happy I talked to her. I didn't have to talk to her".

"She begged me to take a picture with her. She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn't have taken it, but I felt sorry for her," he reportedly said.

The once close pair's relationship has been increasingly strained in recent months, with Rome refusing to support the US's military operations in Iran and Trump criticising Pope Leo XIV.

On the sidelines of the G7, Meloni had told the press what she thought of reports suggesting there had been an issue between her and the US president.

"Donald Trump and I are people with fairly strong characters; we are two people who strongly defend our national interest," Meloni said.

"We don't need to clear the air when we disagree on something, because in the end each of us obviously understands the other's point of view, so we simply went back to talking about what needs to be done with the same ease as the last time we met before this occasion," Meloni added, denying media reports that spoke of "jibes" between the two leaders.

The website of the prime minister's office published two photographs of the meeting between Meloni and Trump at the end of a session on artificial intelligence, and in a video released by the media the two can be seen shaking hands.