Trump says Italy’s Meloni lacks ‘courage’ on Iran war
“I was shocked by him. I thought he was brave, but I was wrong,” he said of his political ally in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
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Meloni, Italy’s far-right leader since October 2022, is one of Trump’s closest allies in Europe and often tries to mediate between the differing views of the United States and Europe.
Trump said that although Italy gets most of its oil from the region, he does not want Italy to get involved in the war that started with Israeli-US attacks on Iran.
The interview aired less than 24 hours after Meloni condemned Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo XIV as “unacceptable” following the pope’s repeated calls for an end to the war in the Middle East.
Also Read: India-US eyes ‘big-ticket energy deals’ as PM Modi and Donald Trump discuss West Asian crisisHe told Corriere that he was the “unacceptable” one, claiming he didn’t care whether Iran had nuclear weapons.
Corriere’s article was published in Italian but AFP obtained the original quote in English.
