Donald Trump's Meme Trolling Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Turns Feud Between Allies Into Truth Social Spectacle

President Donald Trump has found a new way to keep his feud with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni alive.

Trump posted an edited image on Truth Social Sunday showing Meloni appearing to look up at him, with the caption “Restraining order needed,” comparing her to an obsessed stalker.

The post landed in the middle of a marathon social media spree in which Trump posted more than 100 times in eight hours.

Trump and Meloni were once seen as ideological allies, both known for hard-line views on immigration and nationalist politics. Meloni was also the only European leader to attend Trump’s inauguration last year.

The relationship turned sharply after Trump claimed Meloni was desperate for a photo with him during the G7 summit in France.

“She’s probably happy I talked to her. I didn’t have to talk to her,” Trump told Italian broadcaster La7. “She begged me to take a picture with her. She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her.”

Meloni publicly denied the account, calling Trump’s remarks “completely made-up.”

“I don’t ‌know why ⁠the president of the United States behaves like this toward his allies, and it’s not the first time,” she said in a social media video at the time. “I can only say it is disappointing that he does not show the same determination with the enemies of the West and of the United States, whose leaders he instead treats with far greater indulgence.”

She added, “There is one thing he should remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg.”

Trump later linked the dispute to Italy’s refusal to allow American bombers to use Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily for operations tied to Iran.

Meloni pushed back again, saying Italy’s bases are governed by agreements “that we have always respected, and that cannot be violated as long as I am prime minister.”

When Trump criticized her popularity, Meloni answered on Instagram that defending Italy’s national interest “is exactly what I’ve always done.”

“In any case, my popularity is none of your concern,” she wrote. “I suggest you focus on yours.”

Trump and Meloni are expected to meet again at the NATO summit July 7–8 in Ankara, Turkey, where the public sniping could become an uncomfortable diplomatic backdrop.