Italy's foreign minister pulls out of Miami event over Trump's feud with Meloni

Allison Beck, Miami Herald on Jun 19, 2026

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A high-ranking Italian official has canceled his plans to attend a Miami conference promoting business between Italy and the United States, citing “serious and offensive” statements from President Donald Trump about the country’s prime minister.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani was scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio Monday at the Italy US Business, Investment, Science and Innovation Forum in Coral Gables, with plans to discuss economic security and critical minerals. Scheduled at The Biltmore Hotel, the event has been billed as a “strategic opportunity for Italian and American companies to establish and strengthen business relationships across key sectors” in both countries.

The State Department announced the meeting between the two diplomats on Thursday.

But those plans were upended just hours later over an interaction between Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during the G7 summit in France, and a subsequent interview the president gave to an Italian news outlet.

Italy’s La7 reported Friday that Trump said Meloni had “begged” him for a photo during the summit, and that he only agreed because he felt “pity” for her.

The news station did not publish the original audio of the call, which was translated into Italian for viewers, including a voice-over for the president.

Meloni shot back at Trump shortly after the interview was broadcast, saying in a video posted to X, “Neither I nor Italy ever beg.”

Trump has not commented on the dust up.

Tajani was set to arrive in Miami on June 21 for the event. But, in a Friday morning post to X, he said he was canceling the trip to the United States.

The Italian Trade Agency and the 300-member Italy-America Chamber of Commerce Southeast organized the Biltmore event to bring together government and businesses both in Italy and the United States.