Meloni's giant slalom between Iran, Trump, accounts and allies

The eyes of the executive are focused on the ultimatum forthe reopening of Hormuz launched by Donald Trump to Iran: the success of the negotiation attempt and the resumption of safe navigation in the Strait would allow Rome, which has called for de-escalation since the beginning of the conflict, to breathe a sigh of relief at least on the energy front and for Giorgia Meloni to set Thursday's briefing in parliament on a register of optimism.

If phase 2 is not a giant slalom, it is very little. The attempt to relaunch government action after the defeat in the referendum on justice reform appears tortuous and fraught with obstacles. The objective of the Prime Minister, who has just returned from a lightning visit to the Gulf 'to defend the national interest', is clear: to tune in to the Italians with a 'truth operation' on the state of the art, that is, on the effects of the war, the energy crisis and the high fuel prices.

Meloni has no interest in sweetening the pill. Without the breakthrough of a ceasefire, the strategy would remain one: harm reduction. On the one hand, it is necessary to distance oneself from an increasingly unpopular Trump. Today at 4 p.m., Defence Minister Guido Crosetto will report to Montecitorio on the 'no' to the landing at Sigonella of US bombers engaged in the Middle East: a tear motivated by respect for the Treaties that regulate the use of the bases and useful to reaffirm that Italia 'has no intention of going to war'.

On the other hand, and this is what the Prime Minister will deal with, a new pact with the country must be signed on the basis of a credible agenda for the last year of the legislature. A menu capable of making people forget the slabbish: a closeness to Trump and the Maga world whose benefits for Italia have not been perceived by many, growth that is struggling, a deficit that remains above 3% of GDP, a reformism limited to the NRP (close to its conclusion), a stability troubled by scandals and embarrassments. The heaviest is the one linked to the former undersecretary for justice, Andrea Delmastro.

But what Meloni would gladly have done without at this stage is the Piantedosi case, with the revelation of the Interior Minister's liaison by Claudia Conte. At Palazzo Chigi they hope to be able to file the case under 'private matters', without consequences on a team that has just been recomposed with the appointment of Gianmarco Mazzi at Tourism in place of the 'resigned' Daniela Santanchè. Without further shake-ups, it will only be necessary to fill the five remaining vacant undersecretary chairs: Justice, Enterprise, Foreign Affairs, University and Culture.