Giorgia Meloni has said she was left 'stunned' after Donald Trump mocked her over a photo taken at the G7, claiming the Italian PM had been desperate to pose with him. 

Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani scrapped a June 21 trip to Washington in protest, writing on X that the 'grave and offensive words of President Trump ... offend the whole of Italy.'

Trump told Italian TV channel La7 that Meloni 'wanted a picture with me so badly' at this week's summit in France and that he agreed only because he 'felt sorry for her.'

He went further in the comments broadcast Friday morning, suggesting Meloni might be 'happy that I talked to her, I didn't have to talk to her.'

Meloni replied immediately from a European Union summit in Brussels, trashing Trump's 'made up' account and firing back: 'Neither I nor Italy ever beg'.

'I don't know why the president of the United States behaves this way with his own allies,' the right-wing leader said in a video posted to Instagram, adding it was 'a pity he doesn't show the same determination with enemies of the West.'

'After all, this isn't the first time this has happened,' she said, an apparent reference to an interview Trump gave to Italian paper Corriere della Sera in April criticizing her refusal to back the Iran war. Meloni did not respond publicly at the time. 

The blow-up shatters the image Meloni built as Europe's bridge to Trump, a relationship already pushed to the brink by the Middle East war and by her defense of Pope Leo XIV against the president's attacks.

Trump has since threatened to pull US troops from Italy, claiming Rome 'has not been of any help to us' in the Iran war.

US tariffs, its staunch support of Israel over its war in Gaza, as well as Trump's reluctance to assist Ukraine amid the Russian invasion have also frayed relations.

Italy's Defense Minister Guido Crosetto also rebuked Trump, saying he didn't believe Meloni would ever beg someone for a photo, 'not even under threat.'

'I can, however, imagine how much it cost her to set aside what Trump had said weeks ago, to serve the interests of Italy, of Europe, and of the West,' Crosetto posted on X.

'Jokes of this kind do no good to anyone: neither to the USA, nor to Italy, nor to the alliance.'

Video from Evian this week had showed Trump and Meloni deep in conversation on the sidelines of the summit.

Other footage that went viral appeared to show Meloni in intense discussion with Trump, gesturing with her finger at the president.

At a press conference afterwards, Meloni had dismissed any notion that there was a simmering tension between the pair.

'There were no recriminations and we didn't speak about what happened in the past few weeks,' she said.

'Donald Trump and I both have rather strong personalities. We defend with determination the national interest, there's no need to clear the air when we disagree on something because, in the end, we understand each other's point of view.' 

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.