‘Restraining order needed’ — Trump pokes fun at Meloni

US President Donald Trump has further escalated his feud with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Trump recently shared a bizarre meme suggesting that the Italian prime minister is having an affair with him! On his social media account ‘Truth Social’, the 80-year-old Trump posted an edited photo of himself with Meloni and claimed that he needed to issue a ‘restraining order’ (legal restraining order) against Meloni.

In the photo, 49-year-old Meloni is seen smiling at Trump. This basically implies that the right-wing Italian leader is weak towards Trump.

Trump wrote in the caption of the photo, ‘Restraining order needed’.

This was one of several posts made by Trump on Truth Social on Sunday (July 5). He also posted a fake photo of former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama on the same day. The photo shows them shaking hands before boarding a graffiti-covered Air Force One.

Trump posted this just before a NATO summit in Turkey, where Trump and Meloni are scheduled to meet alongside other leaders of the alliance.

Trump-Meloni feud

The two world leaders began their feud last week. Trump claimed that Meloni had "repeatedly" asked to take a photo with him at the recent G-7 summit. Trump even indicated that Meloni had begged for a photo.

At the time, Trump criticized Europe and said that the Europeans were making "everything wrong" on energy and immigration issues. If they don't solve these problems, Europe will never be the same again.

Following Trump's comments, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani canceled his scheduled visit to Washington. On the other hand, Meloni called Trump's claim a "complete fabrication" and said, "Italy and I never beg from anyone."

According to the report of the Italian news agency Adnocron, Meloni said in an interview with the Italian news agency 'Rete 4', "I am not anti-American today; and yesterday I did not kneel to anyone. I am a person who believes that the West is stronger when it is united. And Italy is stronger in a united Western world - I have worked and continue to work with this belief. But at the same time, strong relations also depend on clarity, and I am a clear-spoken person."

The relationship between the two right-wing leaders deteriorated after Italy's reluctance to support the US's actions against Iran.

Source: NDTV