Rome, July 7 -- Senior Italian government officials have urged restraint after US President Donald Trump shared a mocking image targeting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on social media, emphasising that bilateral relations remain resilient despite the public friction.

The diplomatic tension escalated on Sunday when Trump uploaded a photograph of Meloni observing him on Truth Social, accompanied by the caption, "RESTRAINING ORDER NEEDED," renewing a political dispute that emerged last month.

The initial friction began after Trump asserted to an Italian television network that Meloni had "begged" him for a photograph during a G7 summit, an allegation that the Italian Prime Minister subsequently refuted.

Responding to the developme...