Trump turns on Italy’s Meloni, says she lacks courage
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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has criticised US President Donald Trump's decision to go to war with Iran, and denounced his criticism of Pope Leo.
PHOTO: REUTERS
DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.
- Trump publicly criticised Meloni, stating he was "shocked" she refused to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and denounced his remarks about Pope Leo.
- Meloni's criticism of Trump's Iran war and comments on Pope Leo prompted his rebuke, accusing her of not caring about Iran's nuclear threats.
- Meloni's close ties with Trump are now a "political liability" as 66% of Italians negatively view him, potentially impacting her political standing.
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ROME - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni lacks courage and has let Washington down, US President Donald Trump told an Italian newspaper on April 14, delivering a blunt public rebuke to one of his closest European allies.
Ms Meloni had been a vociferous supporter of Mr Trump, but she distanced herself from him after he went to war with Iran in February, and on April 13, she openly criticised him for lashing out at Pope Leo, saying his verbal assault was “unacceptable”.
Mr Trump responded in an interview with Corriere della Sera, saying Ms Meloni was “very different from what I thought” and denouncing her for refusing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blocked by Iran.
“I’m shocked by her. I thought she had courage. I was wrong,” he is quoted as saying in the Italian-language article posted online.
The White House declined to comment on the reported quotes.
Ms Meloni’s office also declined to comment, but politicians of all stripes rallied to her defence, including Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, head of the coalition Forza Italia party.
“We are, and will remain, sincere supporters of Western unity and steadfast allies of the United States, but that unity is built on loyalty, respect and mutual frankness,” he said, applauding Ms Meloni for denouncing Mr Trump’s attack on the pope.
“On Pope Leo XIV, she said exactly what all of us Italian citizens think,” he added in a statement on X.
The criticism marks a dramatic change in tone towards Ms Meloni, who was the only European leader to attend the President’s inauguration in 2025 and whom he had hailed as “a great leader” just one month ago.
On April 14, he accused her of failing to back US efforts to tackle Iran’s nuclear programme and guarantee energy flows through the Gulf, saying she wanted America “to do the job for her”.
Asked about her condemnation of his comments on Pope Leo, he said: “She is the one who is unacceptable, because she does not care whether Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow Italy up in two minutes if it had the chance.”
The reprimand capped a tumultuous month for Ms Meloni, who lost a crunch referendum on judicial reform in March and then saw her political ally Viktor Orban ousted from power in Hungary.
The US-Israeli war in the Gulf threatens to upend the economy with surging energy costs and is hugely unpopular with Italians, putting Ms Meloni on a collision course with Mr Trump.
Seeking to distance herself from the conflict, she refused to let US fighters use an airbase in Sicily for combat operations in Iran in March and on April 14, she suspended a military cooperation pact with Israel.
Mr Trump said the surge in energy prices should have encouraged Italy, which is heavily dependent on oil and gas imports, to help re-open the Strait of Hormuz.
“They (Italy) pay the highest energy costs in the world and are not even ready to fight for the Strait of Hormuz... They depend on Donald Trump to keep it open,” Mr Trump said. REUTERS
