President Donald Trump on Saturday denounced Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, saying that she asked “over and over” for a photo with him at the recent G7 summit and criticising what he said was Italy’s lack of co-operation during the Iran war.
The remarks deepen the spat that began this week with the Republican president’s interview with an Italian broadcaster, during which Mr Trump claimed Ms Meloni “begged” for the photo during the G7 meeting in France.
Ms Meloni has called that “completely fabricated”.
The row led Italy’s foreign minister to cancel a planned trip to the United States as Ms Meloni’s government lined up in her defence.
“Italian Prime Minister Gigiorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France,” Mr Trump wrote on his social media platform while spending the weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat.
He misspelled her first name in the initial post, which he later corrected.
He continued: “She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy, when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon (But so did NATO, for that matter!).”
Mr Trump’s comments were broadcast on Friday on the La7 network.
A correspondent had asked the president about Ukraine, but Mr Trump raised Ms Meloni and made the claim about the photo.
Mr Trump said he was not obliged to take the picture with her but that he felt sorry for her and agreed, La7 said.
The broadcaster put a dubbed version of the conversation online, but not the original English audio.
In his post, Mr Trump also complained that Ms Meloni would not allow the US to use Italy’s landing strips or runways during the Iran war even though the US is a leader in defence spending among Nato allies.
That is a long-standing complaint about the military alliance and one that MrTrump raised before his White House meeting on Wednesday with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte and the Nato summit in Turkey next month.
Italy, a key logistics hub for the US, declined in March to allow American bombers heading for the Middle East to use a base in Sicily without parliamentary approval.
Mr Trump vented his frustration about Ms Meloni and on Saturday claimed that she “wants to be friends again” in light of the initial deal between the US and Iran to end the war.