Melike Pala
20 June 2026•Update: 20 June 2026
Spain’s prime minister and Belgium’s defense minister voiced support for Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday, criticizing remarks by US President Donald Trump.
"The insults from the White House need to stop. It divides the West and achieves nothing," Belgium’s Theo Francken wrote on US social media platform X.
"And they need to leave @GiorgiaMeloni alone. Enough!" he added.
Separately, speaking after an EU leaders' summit in Brussels, Spanish Premier Pedro Sanchez expressed full "solidarity" with Meloni.
"This attack, which is neither political nor personal, I don't really know how to describe it either," he said.
The remarks come after Meloni firmly rejected claims by Trump that she had "begged" him for a photo during the recent G7 summit.
"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," Trump said, according to Italian television La7.
"Donald Trump's statements are completely made up — I am frankly stunned," Meloni said in a video posted on social media. "I and Italy never beg."
The controversy has sparked a political backlash in Rome, where Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani canceled a planned visit to the United States, calling Trump's remarks "serious and offensive."
The episode signals growing tension between the Italian and American leaders, who had previously maintained close ties. Meloni was the only European leader invited to Trump’s second-term inauguration last year.
