A misleading video has turned Meloni into an anti-American icon across the world’s social media

For the past few days, a belief has been circulating on social media – especially in English, Spanish, German and French – that Giorgia Meloni has launched a head-on attack on U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, threatening to close “U.S. bases” in Italy, tear up the “most advantageous trade agreements,” and even floating the idea of a boycott of the McDonald’s fast-food chain.

Posts of this kind immediately became hugely popular online, racking up up to 8.5 million views in 24 hours, and they all end with praise for the Italian prime minister, portrayed as the leader of a newly born European opposition to Trump. As anyone familiar with Italian politics will know, however, Meloni’s words actually tell a very different story.

The press conference taken out of context

All these posts also contain a short video clip taken from the traditional year-end press conference held on 9 January 2026 by the Italian Council of the Order of Journalists and the Parliamentary Press Association. The excerpt shared on social media can be listened to here, starting at 1:34:52.

Responding to a question from Domani journalist Francesca De Benedetti about her relationship with Donald Trump, Meloni explained:

«Cerco le luci piuttosto che le ombre nel mio rapporto e nel rapporto italiano con i suoi partner europei e atlantici, perché a noi conviene rafforzare questo ambito che è il nostro ambito di appartenenza. È sbagliata questa strategia? Allora mi si deve formalizzare l’alternativa, mi si deve dire quindi che cosa si intende fare. Cioè dobbiamo prendere distanze nel senso che dobbiamo uscire dalla NATO? Dobbiamo chiudere le basi americane? Dobbiamo rompere i rapporti commerciali? Dobbiamo assaltare i McDonald’s? Non lo so. Che dobbiamo fare? Che dobbiamo fare?»

English translation:

«I look for the positives rather than the negatives in my relationship—and Italy’s relationship—with our European and Atlantic partners, because it is in our interest to strengthen the sphere we belong to. Is this strategy wrong? Then an alternative must be set out; we must be told what, concretely, is supposed to be done. Should we distance ourselves by leaving NATO? Should we close the American bases? Should we break trade relations? Should we storm McDonald’s? I don’t know. What should we do? What should we do?»

As is clear, Meloni’s response was not intended as a real threat to leave NATO, break trade ties with the United States, or, least of all, attack McDonald’s restaurants. Rather, it was a rhetorical device: she exaggerated the lack of viable alternatives, at least in her view, to an approach toward the U.S. administration that the journalist had described as insufficiently critical.

How a viral lie was born

The meaning of Meloni’s words was therefore misrepresented on X in order to portray the Italian prime minister as a critical voice toward Donald Trump.

This operation was certainly made easier by the language barrier and by the difficulty, for international audiences, of picking up Meloni’s sarcastic tone, which helped the video circulate and go viral. But it was not an innocent mistake. The 20-second clip featuring the prime minister’s words was cut to omit the premise needed to understand the tone of the statement, a choice that effectively manipulates the content.

The first account to publish the clip on X was Anonymous’s official account on 11 January 2026. Anonymous—the hacktivist collective known for cyberattacks against institutions and companies—shared the 20-second video together with an English translation of Meloni’s words.

The content only became truly viral ten days later, thanks to an Indian content farm on X operating as @IndiaTales7, which posted the video presenting Meloni’s words as a response to Trump’s claim «La NATO è niente senza l’America» (English: “NATO is nothing without America”) and concluding with the comment «Meloni lancia bombe di verità come una vera boss!» (English: “Meloni is dropping truth bombs like a real boss!”). That same day, 21 January 2026, Trump spoke at the annual Davos forum, saying that the United States “virtually contributes 100 percent” of NATO’s funding.

The @IndiaTales7 account, analysed by Facta’s newsroom, presents itself as a pro-Putin propaganda page that also shares celebratory content about the Chinese government and the North Korean regime. In this case, Giorgia Meloni’s video was used as a tool of anti-American propaganda.