Donald Trump has been branded a 'coglione' Italian slang for 'idiot' by a right‑wing Italian newspaper after he claimed Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had 'begged' him for a photo at the G7 summit in France this week, prompting a diplomatic row that has already seen Italy's foreign minister cancel a visit to the United States.
Trump, speaking about the 2025 G7 gathering, told supporters that Meloni had repeatedly pleaded with him for a selfie. According to Libero Quotidiano's translation of his remarks, Trump said: '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.' The boast landed badly in Rome, where Meloni and senior ministers insist nothing of the sort happened and are treating the episode less as a gaffe and more as an insult to a NATO partner.
