Did Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni publicly point out to President Donald Trump that, out of the nine countries with nuclear weapons, the United States is the only one that has used them? No, that's not true: The quote is completely made up. There is no evidence or actual credible news reports of Meloni making such a comment. The video included in the post on social media does not show Meloni making the remark.
The claim appeared in a June 21, 2026, post and video on X account @RussianArmy_ (archived here). It opened:
🚨 BREAKING:
Trump warned that a nuclear-armed Iran could become a threat to Europe.
Italy's PM Giorgia Meloni responded with a striking remark:
"Nine countries have nuclear weapons. Only one has ever used them -- the United States."
A response that instantly shifted the conversation and sent shockwaves through the debate. 🌍🔥
This is what the claim looked like:
(Image source: Post by @RussianArmy_ on X.)
The video in the post that shows Trump and Meloni is just a still image with faint music playing. It does not show either Trump or Meloni speaking.
🚨 BREAKING:
-- Russian Army (@RussianArmy_) June 22, 2026
Trump warned that a nuclear-armed Iran could become a threat to Europe.
Italy's PM Giorgia Meloni responded with a striking remark:
"Nine countries have nuclear weapons. Only one has ever used them -- the United States."
A response that instantly shifted the... pic.twitter.com/uxYRjh1BNQ
A reverse image search of the photo matches with a series of pictures taken on August 18, 2025, in the White House, according to images available on Reuters (archived here). It does not show an image taken in late June 2026. Here is a screenshot of the image:
(Image source: Reuters.)
Trump spoke about Meloni and nuclear weapons in an interview with Italian news outlet Corriere della Sera Esteri (archived here) in April 2026. He was asked what he thought about Meloni saying his remarks regarding the Pope were unacceptable and he responded:
She's unacceptable. She's unacceptable because she doesn't mind that Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if they had the chance.
Meloni did accuse Trump of fabricating a story that she "begged" him for a photo at the G7 summit, releasing a statement on X (archived here) on June 19, 2026, about Trump's accusation, according to NPR (archived here). She posted a video and in that did not mention nuclear weapons:
Io e l'Italia non imploriamo mai. pic.twitter.com/sTpKlqWB67
-- Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) June 19, 2026
There is no evidence or source cited in the post for the quote from Meloni regarding nuclear weapons and the United States. Had she made such a remark to Trump, it would have been international news. Lead Stories searched Google News (archived here) and Yahoo News (archived here) and did not find any matching credible news reports about the Italian leader taunting Trump about the United States using nuclear weapons.
Other fact checks
This claim was also investigated by AFP Fact Check.
