Italian PM's savage insults against Trump as popularity 'soars' following feud

Giorgia Meloni, the Prime Minister of Italy, has seen her popularity soar after tensions arose between her and Donald Trump at the G7 summit in France last month.

When world leaders get together, it’s usually to reform some policies, however, on June 19, it saw a moment where the Italian PM snapped back at the US president with claims that his comments about her willingness to snap a picture with him was ‘completely fabricated’.

The Instagram post came after President Trump said the Italian PM was 'probably happy I spoke to her. I didn’t have to', before telling reporters: "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."

Now, you’re probably confused about this turn of events considering the pair seemed to be comrades in previous meetings, but things turned sour after Pope Leo called out the US-backed war on Iran.

Meloni defended the Catholic leader and prominent Italian figure, and Trump’s relationship with her soured – culminating in what appeared to be a G7 spat that transferred to social media.

Now, whether it was their falling out, or for some other reason, Meloni has since seen a significant increase in her approvals rating, which previously was battling a changing tide that wasn’t a fan of her reform proposals.

In a March referendum, voters rejected a judicial reform package she backed. Now, a YouGov tracker suggests she is the 15th most popular foreign political figure, just one below George W. Bush.

Her political party is also favored, with recent surveys suggesting that her Brothers of Italy party remains the country's most popular political option.

A YouTrend survey for Sky TG24 in June had the party first with 28.6 per cent of voting intentions, which more than seven points ahead of the center-left Democratic Party at 21.5 per cent.

Maybe Trump had nothing to do with it. Or maybe Italy is pleased with their feud.

Regardless, her polls are looking better.

At the time of the online meltdown last month, Meloni claimed to have been ‘frankly stunned' by Trump’s claims over her begging for a picture, with her writing: "Italy and I never beg. Some things deserve an immediate response. I don’t know why the US president behaves this way towards his allies.

"It’s not the first time it’s happened. I can only say it’s unfortunate he doesn’t show the same determination towards the West’s enemies."

"She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy, when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon (But so did NATO, for that matter!)," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

To this, Meloni rejected the claim, calling it ‘senseless.’

"As for my popularity, being your friend has certainly not helped it, nor does it depend on my relationship with you," Meloni said, before suggesting the president should focus on his own approval ratings instead.

For some, Meloni’s policies and focuses changed after her Trump falling out, with an X user writing of a video she posted expressing Europe’s need to advance in its geopolitical relations: “I’ve never heard Giorgia Meloni express such a strong europhile sentiment. This comes after her spat with President Trump.”

Another wrote: “She's really grown on me.”