Giorgia Meloni launched a blistering new counterattack on Donald Trump, branding the President's repeated broadsides against her 'senseless.' 

The remarks were just the latest in an astonishing feud between two of the West's most prominent right-wing leaders.

The president used Truth Social to insist she pleaded for a photograph with him at the G7 summit in France. The Italian Prime Minister fired back on Instagram Saturday.

'President Trump, these constant, unprovoked attacks are senseless,' she wrote, before addressing his jabs about her 'popularity.' 

'As for my popularity, being your friend certainly has not helped it, nor does it depend on my relationship with you.'

Meloni, once one of Trump's closest European allies, said her standing rested on one thing alone: her handling of Italy's interests.

'My popularity depends on my ability to defend Italy's national interest, and that is exactly what I have always done,' Meloni added.

She then addressed Trump's anger over Italy's role in the US campaign against Iran, including his complaint that Rome had not allowed American aircraft to use Italian landing strips and runways.

Meloni said US access to military facilities in Italy was covered by agreements that Rome had always honored.

'As for the use of military bases in Italy, there are agreements that we have always respected,' she wrote.

And in a sharp final jab, the Prime Minister told Trump that her polling was not his business.

'In any case, my popularity is none of your concern. I suggest you focus on yours,' Meloni said.

The extraordinary exchange erupted after Trump renewed his claim that Meloni had been desperate to pose with him during the G7 gathering in Évian-les-Bains.

Trump first made the allegation in an interview with Italian broadcaster La 7, where he said Meloni had wanted a photograph with him 'so badly.'

'She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn't have taken it, but I felt sorry for her,' Trump said in comments aired by the channel in a dubbed version.

He also suggested that Meloni should have been grateful he had even spoken to her.

'She might be happy that I talked to her, I didn't have to talk to her,' he said.

Meloni responded on Friday with a video statement, saying she was stunned by the President's account and dismissing it as fiction.

'Some matters deserve a prompt response,' she said. 'Donald Trump's statement is completely fabricated. I'm frankly astonished.'

The Italian leader said she could not understand why Trump had chosen to target an ally in such a public and pointed manner.

'I don't know why the US President behaves this way toward his own allies,' Meloni said. 'It's not the first time it's happened, after all.'

She accused Trump of showing more leniency to adversaries of the United States and the wider West than to long-standing partners.

'I can only say that it's unfortunate that he doesn't have the same determination toward the enemies of the West, toward the enemies of the United States, toward leaders with whom he appears much more accommodating,' Meloni said.

But it was her final line that appeared to set the tone for the escalating row.

'He must remember one thing: Italy and I never beg anyone,' she said.

Trump did not let the rebuke pass.

In a Truth Social post Saturday morning he doubled down writing that 'Italian Prime Minister Gigiorgia [sic] Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France.'

It was unclear whether Trump's misspelling of Meloni's first name was deliberate or a typo.

The President then turned from the disputed G7 encounter to Meloni's domestic standing and Italy's position during the Iran conflict.

'She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy, when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon,' Trump wrote.

He added: 'But so did NATO, for that matter!'

Trump also accused Meloni of failing to provide enough assistance to Washington during the Iran war, claiming she would not permit US aircraft to use Italian facilities despite America's military spending for NATO allies.

He wrote that Meloni now wanted to restore their relationship after the United States' military victory over Iran.

'Now, after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again in order to get her "numbers up". No thanks!!!' Trump wrote.

The confrontation is a dramatic collapse in relations between two leaders who were once seen as ideological allies and personal friends.

Meloni was the only European leader to attend Trump’s inauguration last year, and had long been regarded as a potential bridge between the White House and Europe’s more conservative governments.

But that relationship has come under severe strain amid the conflict with Iran, Italy’s refusal to give Washington the level of military support Trump demanded and the President’s increasingly combative attacks on European leaders.

In March, Italy denied permission for US aircraft to land at Sigonella air base in Sicily before flying on to the Middle East, according to Politico.

Trump has also threatened to pull US troops from Italy, arguing that Rome had not been sufficiently helpful to America during the Iran war.

The pair had appeared to be on steadier footing at the G7 this week, where they were filmed in prolonged conversation on the sidelines of the summit.

Another clip showed Meloni speaking intensely with Trump and gesturing with her finger as the two stood face-to-face.

Afterward, Meloni rejected the idea that they had been locked in a simmering dispute at the summit.

‘There were no recriminations and we didn’t speak about what happened in the past few weeks,’ she said at a press conference.

‘Donald Trump and I both have rather strong personalities. We defend with determination the national interest, there’s no need to clear the air when we disagree on something because, in the end, we understand each other’s point of view.’