Updated 00.21 | Published 00.01
The atmosphere was already cold between Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni before the summit.
The president’s new image has not made the relationship more cordial.
He implies that she is obsessed with him.
All eyes will be on Trump and Meloni when the meeting between NATO heads of government begins in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Tuesday.
Their sensational row in the aftermath of the recent G7 meeting in France was reason enough.
Mocking her again
But now President Trump is fueling the conflict even further.
In a post on Truth Social during Sunday evening, he published a picture of Italy’s prime minister as she looks up at him seemingly admiringly.
The picture has the title “contact ban needed”.
The post has not landed favorably in Italy.
The websites of the Italian daily newspapers have been filled with articles about the new attack on Monday.
Politicians are raging, the opposition is calling for national support against the American president and psychologists have spoken out about what may be behind Trump’s image.
“Pitiful and despicable”
From the side of the Italian government, the lid is put on.
– Trump’s statements speak for themselves. We have said from the very beginning that we do not intend to respond to these types of statements, says Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani to the news agency Ansa.
– That’s why we’re moving on. We are convinced that the transatlantic relations are far more important than individual statements. We are friends with USAwhich is a strategic partner and, together with Europe, the most important part of the Western world. That is what is important to us.
Within the opposition, people are more outspoken.
– We are all Italians and cannot accept attacks, threats or insults from foreign heads of government, says Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein.
“Trump is a pathetic and despicable bully. I express my full support for the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni”, writes Azione leader Carlo Calenda, who stands far from Meloni politically, on social media.
Hit back in anger video
Their last meeting in connection with the G7 meeting in the town of Evian-les-Bains on Lake Geneva in mid-June did not end happily.
Afterward, Trump said in an interview with Italian television:
– She’s probably happy that I talked to her. I didn’t need to talk to her. She begged to take a picture with her. She wanted so badly to take a picture with me. I wasn’t even going to do it, but I felt sorry for her.
The claim prompted Meloni to hit back in a video on Instagram.
The Prime Minister said Trump’s statements were “completely false” and she was “shocked” to see them.
– I do not understand why the president of the United States behaves like this towards his allies, it is not the first time it has happened, says Meloni in the video.
Be good friends
– I can only say that it is a shame that he does not show the same determination against the enemies of the West, against the enemies of the United States.
Trump said after the prayer row that the conflict with Meloni was caused by Italy not allowing the United States to use the country’s air force bases in connection with operations during the war against Iran, writes the New York Post.
Giorgia Meloni, 49, and Donald Trump80, were previously good friends.
Trump has called Meloni “a beautiful young woman” and she was the only European leader to attend his inauguration ceremony in Washington last year.
