JAKARTA - Italian Foreign Minister (Menlu) Antonio Tajani suddenly canceled his plans to the United States (US) this weekend.
Citing AP, Friday, June 19, Tajani's action was a response to US President Donald Trump's claim that Italian Prime Minister (PM) Giorgia Meloni begged for a photo with him during the just-ended G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France.
The incident began when Trump was asked about Ukraine in an interview session with the Italian television channel, La7, on Friday morning local time.
Instead of answering questions from La7 journalists, Trump instead shifted the interview to the moment of his meeting with Meloni during the G7 Summit.
At the G7 summit, Trump and Meloni did speak on a number of occasions, including on a small sofa.
According to La7, Trump said Meloni "begged" him for a photo together.
Still on La7's news, Trump then said, in fact it was not necessary, but he felt sorry for Meloni and agreed to the photo together.
La7 showed the news in a dubbed version (dubbing) instead of the original English audio.
Meanwhile, through his social media account, Meloni uploaded a rebuttal video by saying Trump's claim was completely fabricated.
"Donald Trump's statement is completely made-up. To be honest, I am surprised," said Meloni.
"I don't know why the president of the United States behaves like this towards his own allies. After all, this is not the first time this has happened," he continued.
Meloni, who seems to have had enough of Trump's boasts and attacks, then said that his country would not beg Trump.
"I can only say that it is a pity that he does not show the same determination against Western enemies, against the enemies of the United States - against leaders who, on the other hand, are much more accommodating with him," Meloni said.
"But there is one thing he must remember: Italy and I are not beggars," he continued.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
