This is the awkward moment Donald Trump asked Giorgia Meloni: ‘You won’t be offended if I say you’re beautiful, right? Because you are.’
The US president made the comment yesterday while addressing the press in front of several global leaders, including Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canada’s Mark Carney, in Egypt.
Italian prime minister Meloni was also among those standing behind him as he delivered his remarks at the summit, where he signed a peace deal to end the war in Gaza.
Partway through his speech, Trump acknowledged some of the world leaders gathered on the stage.
Referring to Meloni, he began: ‘We have a woman – a young woman who is… I’m not allowed to say it because usually it’s the end of your political career if you say it. She’s a beautiful young woman.’
He continued: ‘Now, if you use the word “beautiful” in the United States about a woman, that’s the end of your political career. But I’ll take my chances.
That was when he turned directly to Meloni and asked if she did not mind being called beautiful. He also thanked her for coming to the summit, saying: ‘We appreciate it.’
Meloni smiled and nodded as Trump showered her with compliments, while the other world leaders awkwardly stood still, seemingly trying to avoid a reaction.
It is not the first time Trump and Meloni have expressed admiration for each other.
During a gathering at the White House in August where leaders met to discuss the Russian-Ukrainian war, Trump was heard on a hot mic complimenting Meloni.
While greeting her, he said: ‘How are you doing? You alright? You look fantastic.’
Later, Meloni returned the compliment by praising Trump for the way he handled reporters’ questions.
At the summit yesterday, another widely shared clip saw Turkish president Recep Erdoğan come under fire for paying Meloni a ‘backhanded compliment’.
While speaking to Meloni, he said: ‘I saw you coming down from the plane. You look great. But I have to make you stop smoking.’
Meloni, who was the only woman among the 30 male leaders, laughed off the remarks and replied: ‘I know, I know. I don’t want to kill somebody.’
French president Emanuel Macron, who was present for the exchange, also laughed.
Meanwhile, at the summit, Trump and other mediators signed a historic peace deal to bring the war in Gaza to an end.
The meeting followed the release of all living hostages who were still being held by Hamas following its October 7, 2023, atrocities.
Trump called the deal a success and said: ‘Phase two has already started. The phases are all a little bit mixed in with each other. You can start cleaning up. You look at Gaza, it’s a lot of clean-up.
He also added: ‘There was getting to be a period of time over the last few months when the world wanted peace and Israel wanted peace.
‘If you had gone on for another three or four more years, keeping fighting, fighting, fighting, it was getting bad, it was getting heated. So the timing of this is brilliant.
‘I said: “Bibi, you will be remembered for this far more than if you kept the thing going, going – kill, kill, kill.'”
Experts are now fearing that Donald Trump’s peace deal could already be at risk of collapse after Hamas failed to return only four bodies of the 28 people killed while in captivity.
Additionally, a new video circulating on social media has shown Palestinians being publicly executed by an unidentified group, sparking fears that Hamas could be attempting to cling to power, despite agreeing to some terms of the deal.
