Trump turns on Meloni, says he is ‘shocked’ by Italian leader
By Crispian Balmer
ROME, April 14 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump told an Italian newspaper on Tuesday that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni lacked courage and had let Washington down, publicly rebuking one of his closest European allies.
Meloni was an ardent supporter of Trump, but distanced himself from him after going to war with Iran in February, and on Monday publicly criticized him for attacking Pope Leo, saying his verbal attack was “unacceptable.”
In an interview with Corriere della Sera, Trump said Meloni was “very different from what I thought” and condemned him for refusing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which was closed by Iran.
In his article published in Italian, he was quoted as saying, “I was shocked by him. I thought he was brave. I was wrong.”
The White House declined to comment on the reported quotes. Meloni’s office also declined to comment, but politicians of all stripes rallied to his defense, including Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, head of the Forza Italia party coalition.
Applauding Meloni for condemning Trump’s attack on the pope, he said, “We are and will remain sincere supporters of Western unity and staunch allies of the United States, but this unity is built on loyalty, respect and mutual honesty.”
“About Pope Leo XIV, he said exactly what we Italian citizens think,” he added in his statement about X.
TRUMP CONDEMNATION SIGNALS THE LAST BLOW TO MELONI
Trump’s criticism marked a dramatic shift in tone towards Meloni, who is the only European leader attending the 2025 inauguration and whom he had hailed as a “great leader” just a month ago.
He accused himself on Tuesday of not supporting U.S. efforts to combat Iran’s nuclear program and guarantee the flow of energy in the Gulf, saying he wanted America to “do it for him.”
Asked to condemn his comments about Pope Leo, he said: “He is the unacceptable one, because he doesn’t care whether Iran has nuclear weapons or not, and if he had the chance he would blow up Italy in two minutes.”
The condemnation capped a turbulent month for Meloni, who lost a tough referendum on judicial reform in March and then saw his political ally Viktor Orban removed from power in Hungary.
The US-Israeli war in the Gulf threatens to disrupt the economy with rising energy costs and is unpopular with Italians, putting Meloni on a collision course with Trump.
In a bid to distance itself from the conflict, it last month refused to allow US fighters to use an air base in Sicily for combat operations in Iran and on Tuesday suspended a military cooperation agreement with Israel.
Trump said the rise in energy prices should encourage Italy, which is heavily dependent on oil and gas imports, to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“They are paying the highest energy costs in the world and they are not even prepared to fight for the Strait of Hormuz… They are counting on Donald Trump to keep the Strait open,” Trump said.
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer, additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; Editing by Ros Russell, Alexandra Hudson)
