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Trump’s comments were aired Friday on the La7 network. A correspondent had asked the president about Ukraine, but Trump raised Meloni and made the claim about the photo. 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, Trump also complained that Meloni would not allow the U.S. to use Italy’s landing strips or runways during the Iran war even though the U.S. is a leader in defense spending among NATO allies. That is a long-standing complaint about the military alliance and one that Trump raised before his White House meeting Wednesday with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and the NATO summit in Turkey next month.
Italy, a key logistics hub for the U.S., declined in March to allow American bombers headed for the Middle East to use a base in Sicily without parliamentary approval. Trump vented his frustration about Meloni and on Saturday claimed that she “wants to be friends again” in light of the initial deal between the U.S. and Iran to end the war.