Italy’s PM tells Trump to focus on his own popularity

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told US President Donald Trump to pay attention to his own popularity, accusing his NATO ally of trying to improve its domestic ratings by mending ties with Washington.

Italy’s prime minister accused Trump on Friday of being a liar, claiming that he “begged” him to take a photo with him at the Group of Seven summit in France this week.

She repeated the claim on Saturday, misspelling her name as “Gigiorgia” on the Truth Social platform, stating that she “wanted to be friends again to get her ‘numbers’ up.”

Meloni responded with a scathing post on Instagram in English.

“President Trump, these constant, unprovoked attacks are meaningless.”

“My popularity is none of your business,” he added.

“I suggest you focus on yourself.”

The Meloni government, which takes office in 2022, has seen public support in opinion polls rise to around 35 percent after a steady decline in 2025.

In the polls, the Brothers of Italy party leads with around 28 percent, while the opposition Democratic Party gets around 22 percent of the votes.

The US president, who is sworn in in January 2025, has seen his approval rating rise one point to 36 percent in recent days, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, as public dissatisfaction with the cost of living eases; That rate is still near the lows of his political career.

Italy’s first female prime minister told Trump on Saturday that “being his friend certainly hasn’t helped his popularity.”

Trump repeated his earlier criticism of Rome for not allowing the use of US military bases in Italy during the war that the US and Israel started with Iran at the end of February.

“Their use is subject to agreements that we always respect and cannot be violated. As long as I am prime minister, Italy will remain a sovereign nation.”