“Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France,” said President Donald Trump in a Saturday Truth Social post.
This post came as the future of the peace deal Trump’s administration made with Iran seems vulnerable amid allegations of U.S. and Israeli ceasefire violations. In Trump’s post, he slammed Meloni for allegedly not letting the U.S. “use Italy’s landing strips or runways, a great logistical inconvenience,” and turning down the U.S. efforts to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
“She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America,” Trump said.
Meloni is a populist who co-founded and leads Fratelli d’Italia, a political party with populist roots, according to Britannica. CNN reported this week that Meloni said Trump “completely fabricated” the story that she begged him for a photo at the G7 summit.
Trump attended the G7 meeting in Evian, France, along with other world leaders, earlier this week. G7 is a forum that meets to coordinate global policy. Leaders of the group issued a statement on key global issues, including war in the Middle East.
“We welcome the announcement of a deal between the United States and Iran, secured under the strong leadership of President Trump, with the support of mediating countries, which provides an historic opportunity to prevent Iran from acquiring any nuclear weapon and tackling the threats related to its regional and ballistic activities,” said the statement. “We support and are ready to contribute to its implementation.”
It also said that France and the U.K. could help protect vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz. This waterway – and important route for much of the world’s oil – was blocked shortly after the U.S. announced it had joined Israel to attack Iran in late February, causing oil and gas prices to spike worldwide. Following Trump’s peace deal with Iran, average per-gallon gas prices in the U.S. fell to under $4 for the first time in months. Bloomberg reported Friday that Europe’s gas shortages got little reprieve from the deal.
As of Saturday, delicate peace in the region looked shaky, according to multiple reports. Even on Friday, there were reports that Israel’s actions against the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon were threatening peace talks.
Reuters said Iran’s top joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said the Strait of Hormuz was closed to vessel traffic as of Saturday, citing alleged violations of a ceasefire agreement by the U.S. The outlet cited Iran’s Mehr state news agency reported. USA Today reported that 16 people were killed in the attacks on Saturday.
“The closure threatens to further unravel the tenuous peace deal negotiated by the Trump administration. And it underscores the geographical and economic leverage the Iranians still have in the region – and their willingness to use it, if the U.S. can't rein in the Israeli government,” USA Today added.
Steve Witkoff, the U.S. envoy to the Middle East, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, have been in Switzerland for talks with the Iranians and intermediaries, the outlet said. Vice President JD Vance recently canceled a planned trip to Switzerland Friday.
In his Saturday post, Trump also slammed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a group of countries that formed an alliance following World War II. He said the U.S. continues billions annually to protect Italy and other NATO members.
“Now, after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she [Meloni] wants to be friends again in order to get her ‘numbers up.’ No thanks!!!,” said the president.
