Amid the transatlantic chaos and European diplomatic unease triggered by US President Donald Trump, Italy's far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has sought to revive her often misunderstanding- and crisis-ridden relationship with French President Emmanuel Macron. However, less than three months after a meeting in Rome with Macron that was intended to reset relations and demonstrate goodwill, her deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, has extended the list of diplomatic crises that have burdened French-Italian relations since Meloni's rise to power in October 2022.

On Friday, August 22, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that Paris had summoned Italy's ambassador to France, Emanuela D'Alessandro, the previous day to protest Salvini's latest attack on the French president regarding Ukraine. Speaking in the Lombard dialect, Salvini – who sits on the far right of the governing coalition led by the prime minister – addressed Macron with the Milanese idiom "hang on to the tram," roughly meaning "get lost!" or "fend for yourself." Salvini, known for his closeness to Moscow, was referring to possible plans of deploying European ground troops in support of Kyiv. Paris called these remarks "unacceptable."

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