Trump doubles down on criticism of Italy’s Meloni: ‘She was a big fan’

President Trump reinforced his criticism of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, after the pair traded insults following their interaction at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in France this past week. 

“She was a big fan,” he told NBC News’s Gabe Gutierrez on Friday. 

“But I don’t want her as a fan because she was not there — along with the NATO group — having to do with the strait,” he continued, in apparent reference to his demands for European allies to be more involved in the U.S.’s efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz.  

The president told a journalist with Italy’s La7 TV station this week that Meloni “begged” him to take a photo with her during the summit. 

“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........

© The Hill