ROME, July 7 (Reuters) - Italy will stop responding to U.S. President Donald Trump's provocative remarks, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in an interview on Tuesday, as NATO leaders prepared to meet in Turkey.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni last month accused Trump of fabricating a story about her after the U.S. president told an Italian TV channel that she had "begged" him to take a photo with her at a G7 summit in France.
With the two leaders due to attend the NATO summit in Ankara on Tuesday and Wednesday, Trump appeared to reignite the dispute when he posted on Truth Social a picture of Meloni looking up at him with the caption "RESTRAINING ORDER NEEDED".
Trump "speaks for himself. We have a U.S. President who loves to provoke, especially on social media. We have decided to stop responding to these remarks so as not to fuel disputes among our allies," Tajani told La Stampa newspaper.
"We are and will remain friends of the United States as our strategic partner and that of Europe," he added.
Meloni was once a vocal supporter of Trump and was the only European leader to attend his inauguration in 2025.
However, she criticised him this year for lashing out at Pope Leo over his condemnation of the Iran conflict. That in turn prompted a blunt rebuke from the U.S. president, who accused her of lacking courage.
Italy's Il Foglio newspaper headlined its front page on Tuesday mocking Trump's jibe against Meloni, publishing a picture of the U.S. President with Russia's Vladimir Putin, under the same caption "RESTRAINING ORDER NEEDED".
(Reporting by Giuseppe FonteEditing by Keith Weir)
