Trump hits out at Italy’s Meloni and says she ‘lacks courage’

Giorgia Meloni had been seen as a natural ally of Donald Trump (Evan Vucci, Pool/AP)

US President Donald Trump has turned his fire on Italian premier Giorgia Meloni after she called his criticism of Pope Leo XIV “unacceptable” and did not back the US-Israel war on Iran.

“I thought she had courage,” Mr Trump said in an interview with leading Italian daily newspaper, Corriere della Sera. “I was wrong.”

Ms Meloni has not directly responded to Trump’s attacks.

But they may be to her advantage as she recovers from a decisive referendum defeat last month and as she seeks to dull the impact of the deeply unpopular Iran war, including higher energy prices.

Giorgia Meloni attacked the US president over his criticism of the Pope (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)

“I actually think this is a godsend for her,” said Nathalie Tocci, a professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS Europe and the director of the International Affairs Institute.

“Trump has become completely toxic across Europe, across much of the world, including Italy.”

Mr Trump doubled down on Wednesday, saying their bond had frayed. “She’s been negative,” he told Fox News.

“Anybody that turned us down to helping with this Iran situation, we do not have the same relationship.”

Ms Meloni was the only European Union leader invited to Mr Trump’s second inauguration and expected to leverage her strong ties with him once he returned to office 15 months ago.

The two had a perceived natural alliance, with nationalistic tendencies and similarly hard-line stances on immigration.

But Italy was not spared the pain of Mr Trump’s tariffs, and some may argue she has gotten little out of the relationship. When asked if they had spoken this month, Mr Trump told Corriere, “No, not in a long time.”

After an uncomfortable appearance in the Oval Office a year ago when she avoided directly confronting Mr Trump on tariffs, the distance grew over the Iran war.

Ms Meloni has stated Italy will not participate in the war and the country last month refused US bombers the authorisation to land at a pivotal air base in Sicily.

Ms Meloni’s statement this week calling Mr Trump’s attack on the pope “unacceptable” was the most direct criticism of the president yet.

On Tuesday, she announced Italy would not automatically renew a defence agreement with Israel, after warning shots hit an Italian convoy that is part of the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, a move that analysts say is driven more by domestic politics than a strategic shift.