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No, Trump didn't say US and Italy have been allies since ancient Rome | Fact check
The claim: Trump said the US, Italy have been allies ‘since the time of ancient Rome’
A Dec. 19 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes an image showing a woman seated behind President-elect Donald Trump with a perplexed expression.
“Trump said that the United States and Italy have been allies since the time of Ancient Rome,” reads the text on the image. “The translator’s reaction is priceless.”
It was shared more than 1,000 times in a week. Other versions of the claim spread widely on Facebook and X.
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Our rating: False
Trump said the two nations have a shared cultural and political heritage that dates back to ancient Rome, not an alliance. His comments were made during a joint news conference with the Italian president, not the Oval Office meeting in which the translator shown in the image was seated behind him.
US, Italy's diplomatic ties date back to 1800s
The photos included in the image were taken when Trump hosted Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the White House in October 2019.
The pair held a joint press conference, during which Trump made a remark about the countries' ties. But he didn’t say their alliance dated back thousands of years.
The U.S. and Italy, of course, have not been allies throughout history. The U.S. and Italy first established a diplomatic relationship in 1861, but the countries were at war in World War II as Italy joined Germany and Japan in the Axis powers that opposed the Allied powers led by the U.S. Italy and the U.S. re-established a diplomatic relationship after Italy withdrew from the conflict in 1944.
“The United States and Italy are bound together by a shared cultural and political heritage dating back thousands of years to ancient Rome,” Trump said in his opening remarks.
The woman shown in the image wasn’t behind him when he made those comments. Rather, she translated Trump’s remarks during his Oval Office meeting with Mattarella on the same day.
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USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims related to Trump, including false assertions that an authentic image shows a Trump post telling Elon Musk to “stay in your lane,” that Trump can’t travel to Canada because he’s a convicted felon and that Trump picked Hulk Hogan to be secretary of labor.
USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Snopes and FactCheck.org also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources
The American Presidency Project, Oct. 16, 2019, The President’s News Conference With President Sergio Mattarella of Italy
Fox News (YouTube), Oct. 16, 2019, OVAL OFFICE: President Trump FULL Meeting With Italian President
The White House 45, Oct. 16, 2019, X post
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This story was updated to add new information.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump spoke of mutual US, Italian heritage in 2019 | Fact check