Meloni: ‘Relations with the US must return to normal. I hope there will be no repercussions’
In an interview with Belpietro at the ‘Day of Truth’ event, the Prime Minister returns to the subject of Trump’s attack
Key points
- ‘Genuinely shocked’ by Trump’s attack
- Long-standing cooperation, ‘cannot be undone by a social media debate’
- Lebanon: ‘Italia and France can work together’
- Hormuz: ‘previous’ toll must be avoided
- End-of-term objective: ‘To leave nuclear power to the country’
- Lady Tax? ‘We tax the banks; Renzi used to bail them out’
- The sprint for the overall title ‘launched by Renzi’
- Electoral law is key to avoiding a return to instability
- The provocation: ‘Is the opposition aiming for a draw?’
‘I believe our bilateral relations with the United States should return to normal; I said as much yesterday in the Council of Ministers. I think Tajani was right to cancel his trip to Miami, but there is no need to take it any further. The Government will be present at Villa Taverna. Because I haven’t changed my mind: Italian foreign policy will remain the same as it has been for the last 80 years.” In the words of Giorgia Meloni. Interviewed by Maurizio Belpietro at the conclusion of the ‘Day of Truth’ event, the Prime Minister first addressed questions about her relationship with the US President.
‘Genuinely shocked’ by Trump’s attack
Trump was annoyed by the raised finger? ‘I don’t know. I was genuinely taken aback; I’ve read the various accounts, with alleged videos that have gone viral, in which my demeanour might have seemed assertive, rather than the accounts suggesting they were intended to divert attention from the outcome of the negotiations with Iran and the difficulties within NATO. I don’t know. I do not intend to continue fuelling this row.”
Long-standing cooperation: ‘it cannot be undone by social media debate’
Are you worried about any backlash? “I hope not. It seems to me that our business and our relationships have been going well in recent weeks too, including from an economic perspective. A week ago, Crosetto was meeting Hegseth in Washington; Italian exports have grown despite the tariffs, proving that our products are well received by American consumers. These are two systems with such a long and solid history of cooperation that it cannot be erased or called into question by a debate on social media. They are ‘independent’ of whoever governs the country.’ For Meloni, we need to ‘bring foreign policy back to the level of seriousness it deserves’ because ‘sometimes we really do talk about foreign policy as if it were Temptation Island – I say this in reference to the memes I’ve been seeing doing the rounds’.
Lebanon: ‘Italia and France can work together’
On the negotiations between the United States and Iran, “I am fairly optimistic, even if it is not exactly straightforward,” says the Prime Minister. “I don’t think our optimism should be passive” but active, involving engagement in the aftermath “both in the Strait of Hormuz and in Lebanon, where Italia has a long history. I intend to discuss this with Macron at Thursday’s intergovernmental summit; it is one of the areas where Italia and France can work together.”
Hormuz: ‘previous’ toll must be avoided
As for the Strait, the aim is to ensure the full restoration of freedom of navigation: any attempt to control it, through the toll proposed by the Iranians, could set a ‘precedent’ that must be avoided: ‘We would find ourselves catapulted into a world in which every key trade hub would become a means of exerting pressure on states and could be used as a weapon’. For this reason, the Government has ‘expressed its willingness, in a scenario of peace, to undertake a mission to guarantee freedom of navigation: parliamentary authorisation would be required, but I believe Italia should play its part’.
