Do Europe’s populists have a Trump problem?

Do Europe’s populists have a Trump problem? Giorgia Meloni’s brief spat with The Donald has only boosted her standing among Italians. dataLayer.push({ event: 'author', author: "Rocco Loiacono" }) Rocco Loiacono 27th June 2026 Share Topics USA World Want unlimited, ad-free access? Become a spiked supporter. It seems incredible that what could be described as a ‘he said / she said’ between US president Donald Trump and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has become an international incident. In the aftermath of Trump claiming Meloni ‘begged’ him for a photo at last week’s G7 summit in France (a claim categorically denied by the Italian PM), Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani cancelled his scheduled meeting with US counterpart Marco Rubio next month.

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