Wire report
Why Meloni has hit back hard against Trump and his ‘made up’ photo claim | Riccardo Alcaro
With her popularity flagging and a general election looming, the Italian PM sees a strategic advantage in the rupture If Giorgia Meloni thought that she could put her April spat with Donald Trump over the pope’s criticism of the US war on Iran behind her, she had not banked on the US president’s capacity to bear a grudge. Trump reignited tensions by telling an Italian TV journalist that the Italian PM had “begged” him for a picture at the recent G7 meeting in France. The Spanish newspaper El País suggested that Trump’s feathers had been ruffled by a video at the same meeting, showing Meloni appearing to scold him. In any case he doubled down on his tale in a Truth Social post , adding that Meloni wanted the photo to boost her flagging approval ratings, which he blamed on her failure to support the US in the Iran war. Riccardo Alcaro is head of research at IAI, Istituto Affari Internazion
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With her popularity flagging and a general election looming, the Italian PM sees a strategic advantage in the rupture If Giorgia Meloni thought that she could put her April spat with Donald Trump over the pope’s criticism of the US war on Iran behind her, she had not banked on the US president’s capacity to bear a grudge. Trump reignited tensions by telling an Italian TV journalist that the Italian PM had “begged” him for a picture at the recent G7 meeting in France. The Spanish newspaper El País suggested that Trump’s feathers had been ruffled by a video at the same meeting, showing Meloni appearing to scold him. In any case he doubled down on his tale in a Truth Social post , adding that Meloni wanted the photo to boost her flagging approval ratings, which he blamed on her failure to support the US in the Iran war. Riccardo Alcaro is head of research at IAI, Istituto Affari Internazion
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According to The Guardian, Why Meloni has hit back hard against Trump and his ‘made up’ photo claim | Riccardo Alcaro reports that With her popularity flagging and a general election looming, the Italian PM sees a strategic advantage in the rupture If Giorgia Meloni thought that she could put her April spat with Donald Trump over the pope’s criticism of the US war on Iran behind her, she had not banked on the US president’s capacity to bear a grudge. Trump reignited tensions by telling an Italian TV journalist that the Italian PM had “begged” him for a picture at the recent G7 meeting in France. The Spanish newspaper El País suggested that Trump’s feathers had been ruffled by a video at the same meeting, showing Meloni appearing to scold him. In any case he doubled down on his tale in a Truth Social post , adding that Meloni wanted the photo to boost her flagging approval ratings, which he blamed on her failure to support the US in the Iran war. Riccardo Alcaro is head of research at IAI, Istituto Affari Internazion
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The development is part of VINI’s Technology coverage for readers following technology, science, product policy, markets, infrastructure, and the public consequences of innovation. The original report is linked so readers can check the publisher’s account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The original report is dated 2026-07-01T04:00:25+00:00.
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Original report: Why Meloni has hit back hard against Trump and his ‘made up’ photo claim | Riccardo Alcaro via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the report; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.
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- Why Meloni has hit back hard against Trump and his ‘made up’ photo claim | Riccardo AlcaroThe Guardian - 2026-07-01T04:00:25+00:00
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