India, June 20 -- The Italian Government on Friday slammed US President Donald Trump's claim that Premier Giorgia Meloni had "begged" for a photo with him during the recent G7 summit, a pushback that suggested the longtime US ally had had enough of Trump's boasting.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani abruptly cancelled a planned trip to the United States this weekend, calling Trump's claims "serious and offensive" toward Meloni and all of Italy.

For her part, Meloni posted a video calling Trump's claims "completely fabricated," which she concluded with: "Italy and I do not beg." Trump had made the comments in an interview broadcast Friday morning on the La7 network. The La7 correspondent had asked Trump about Ukraine, but Trump rai...