Meloni Feels ‘Struck’ by Trump Exchange but Wants to Move On, Says Politics Not Like ‘Temptation Island’

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday said she feels “struck” by her recent spat with President Donald Trump but affirmed she does not intend to continue “fueling” the dispute.

Meloni said that bilateral work with the United States should return to normal. She asserted that the incident will not change the relationship between Italy and the U.S. —  as foreign policy is not something akin to the television show “Temptation Island.”

Prime Minister Meloni held an interview in Rome as part of the third edition of Il giorno de La Verità (“The Day of Truth”). The Italian government published an complete transcript of the interview that Meloni held with Italian journalist Maurizio Belpietro.

Throughout the interview, Meloni referred to her recent spat with President Trump after Trump told reporters that Meloni “begged” him or a photo with him during the G7 Summit in Evian, France.

Meloni said that she felt “genuinely struck” and taken aback over the situation and circulating discourse surrounding the matter. However, she affirmed that she has no intention to continue “fueling this controversy”

“I believe our bilateral work with the United States must return to normal. That is also what I said yesterday in the Council of Ministers regarding upcoming events,” Meloni said.

“Clearly, I believe [Foreign] Minister Tajani was right, in the immediate term, to cancel his trip to Washington to send a signal, but once the message gets across, there’s no need to take it any further,” she continued.

Asked by Belpietro if she thinks there could be any repercussions from the U.S. such as tariffs or other trade-related measures, Meloni said that she does not think that it will be the case. She noted that relations between Italy and the United States are “going well,” listing Defense Minister Guido Crosetto’s recent visit to Washington and encounter with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth as an example.

“So, frankly, I don’t see any risk of a backlash, but then again, these are two systems with such a long and solid history of cooperation that it’s not as if that can be erased or called into question by a social media debate right now,” Meloni said.

“We need to bring foreign policy back to the level of seriousness it deserves. Because sometimes we really talk about foreign policy as if it were. I don’t know, Temptation Island, though I say this just to reference the memes I see circulating,” she continued. “But anyway, foreign policy is a more complex matter than that.”

Meloni affirmed that she intends to leave the spat behind and reiterated that the Italian government will be present at an upcoming reception in Rome hosted by the United States embassy to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the 4th of July.

“It will be the same as it has been for the past eighty years. In other words, I’m not changing my mind about how important it is to maintain a solid relationship between the United States and Europe, a relationship that clearly underpins an extraordinary part of the West’s strength,” Meloni said.