If Giorgia Meloni thought that she could put her April spat with Donald Trump over the pope’s criticism of the US war on Iran behind her, she had not banked on the US president’s capacity to bear a grudge.

Trump reignited tensions by telling an Italian TV journalist that the Italian PM had “begged” him for a picture at the recent G7 meeting in France. The Spanish newspaper El País suggested that Trump’s feathers had been ruffled by a video at the same meeting, showing Meloni appearing to scold him. In any case he doubled down on his tale in a Truth Social post, adding that Meloni wanted the photo to boost her flagging approval ratings, which he blamed on her failure to support the US in the Iran war.

Trump’s line of attack is hardly surprising, but Meloni’s forceful response is. In a social media video, she said Trump’s claim about the picture was “made up”. She expressed puzzlement at the US president apparently treating his allies worse than his adversaries. Fusing personal and national pride in a single retort, she concluded: “I do not beg, nor does Italy.”

In a subsequent Instagram post , she insisted that her supposed slide in popularity had nothing to do with the US – although in an acerbic jibe, she added that being friends with Trump was not helping. Meanwhile, Antonio Tajani, Meloni’s foreign minister, cancelled plans to attend a US-Italian business forum in Miami.

It is hard to know if this rift is real or performative. In Trump’s eyes, Meloni’s sin appears to be one of lèse-majesté – specifically, failing to show the due........

© The Guardian