US President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are “friends” again weeks after a fiery exchange.
According to Euro News, Trump and Meloni smoothed tension at the G7 in Evian on Tuesday, June 16, after weeks of tension as they traded jokes about the clash over Iran war.
As the world leaders gathered on the sidelines of the summit with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the European Council President António Costa jokingly asked Trump and Meloni, “You are friends again?"
Meloni replied, “We have always been friends.”
Trump retorted, “I was abandoned,” to which she smiled and added, “No, you were not.”
The relationship of the two leader who were once the closest allies, came under strain in the recent weeks after US along with Israel launched war on Iran late in February.
Italy at that time refused to allow US aircraft en route to the Middle East to use its Sigonella base.
Trump in April told an Italian daily that he was “shocked” by Meloni’s decision and said, “I thought she had courage, but I was wrong."
The Italian leader shot back and said that "courage is saying what you think, even when you don't agree."
The conflict escalated after the Republican president criticized Pope Leo XIV over his remarks about war.
The 49-year-old described Trump’s backlash to the pontiff “unacceptable.”
However, in the first meeting after the fiery exchange Trump and Meloni, the only European leader invited to his inauguration in January 2025, struck a conciliatory tone and told the world that they are back to “friendship.”
