Crosetto: Relations with the US are rock-solid. And Meloni to the Alpini: ‘I needed a bit of healthy national pride’

Just a few hours after the yet another attack by Donald Trump against Giorgia Meloni, the message put forward by the majority is clear: the relations – which are currently strained – between the US President and the Prime Minister are one thing; the relations between the two countries, traditionally characterised by political cooperation and economic and trade integration, are quite another.

“Our bond with the United States does not depend on governments or prime ministers; it is deep and rock-solid. I haven’t understood Trump’s behaviour in recent days, partly because it seemed to me, from what I’d seen on television, that there was no problem whatsoever in relations with Italia,” said Defence Minister Guido Crosetto during the programme “Caffè della domenica” on Radio 24. “My relations with the United States, even at this very moment, remain entirely normal and have not changed in any way, including those with the US Ambassador to Italia, with whom I have an excellent relationship; I believe he too is facing considerable difficulties at the moment,” he added.

Speaking to Telefriuli during her surprise visit to Gemona del Friuli, where she took part in the Triveneto Alpine Troops’ gathering to mark the 50th anniversary of the earthquake, Meloni confided: ‘It hadn’t been that long since I’d been round these parts, but I’d been here for a different reason. I felt it was the right thing to do. Let’s just say I needed a bit of healthy national pride, and if you can’t find it here, I don’t know where else you’d find it. And it was also an opportunity to thank the Alpini for the extraordinary work they did during the Olympics – and not just during the Olympics. So I came to say thank you to these people.”

Trump’s latest attack has centred on defence issues. Washington’s ‘list of grievances’ against Rome in the military sphere is clearly defined and has played a part in the US president’s recent tirades against Meloni. In summary, these include restrictions on the use of US bases in Italy, defence spending still at a level deemed inadequate, and Italia’s failure to participate in the PURL – the programme under which European countries purchase US weapons for supply to Ukraine.

At the Ministry of Defence – as in the rest of the government – there is, however, surprise at the tone adopted by the tycoon-president. This is also because the tone used as recently as Monday 15 June by the US Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth, during his meeting at the Pentagon with Minister Guido Crosetto, had been entirely different. That face-to-face meeting appeared to have eased tensions between the two countries. Hegseth had praised Italia, which currently hosts around 30,000 Americans, including military personnel, civilian staff and their families. ‘We are particularly grateful for the constant support shown by your government and the Italian people,’ said the Secretary, who also emphasised that ‘Italia’s growing leadership role in European defence is largely due to the commitment of Prime Minister Meloni’.