Trump doubles down: ‘Billions for defence, but no to bases for Iran in Italia’. Meloni: ‘We remain a sovereign nation’

“It’s clear that these are gratuitous, pointless and unpleasant remarks, but there is no war between Italia and the United States.” So said Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini at a Lega campaign stall in Milan, speaking about Trump’s latest attack on Meloni. “There are already too many wars, and I hope the United States will help us put an end to some of them, given that even in Iran it seems to me that things aren’t going very well,” added Salvini. “Whilst shooting continues in Iran, Lebanon, Israel, Ukraine and Russia, I believe that the world’s leading power should focus its attention on these war fronts and nothing else,” not least because “arguing with allies is not helpful; I say this from the perspective of the US presidency,”, Salvini emphasised. “Italia is a responsible ally, always present and generous. No one,” he concluded, “can call into question the good relations between Italia and the United States. There is certainly a problem at the moment because, I repeat, anyone who attacks our Prime Minister is attacking the entire government and the whole country. However, this cannot and must not call into question the good relations and the diplomatic and commercial ties between Italia and the United States, which are independent of the current or future president.”

In his Truth post in which he attacked Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, claiming that her popularity is waning and that she has turned her back on the US over Iran, Trump stumbled over the leader’s name, writing ‘Gigiorgia’. He then corrected the text shortly afterwards. This is not the first time the tycoon has mangled the name of an Italian leader; it had already happened on 27 August 2019, when he referred to the then Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte as ‘Giuseppi’ in a tweet in which he was praising him.

M5S leader Giuseppe Conte himself commented on his social media that the clash “is not against a leader who stands up for himself, but is a call to order directed at those who have always obeyed without a murmur, taking on commitments that are unsustainable for the Italian people. Those who have reduced Italia to this state will certainly not be the ones to get it back on its feet. It is up to us.’ He adds: ‘You may well control almost all the TV channels and newspapers, but spare us the fairy tale of a Meloni government that stands up for Italia with its head held high.’

“I am deeply saddened by President Trump’s words. It sends a terrible message to all Italians. We reject any such accusations, but we must be clear: Giorgia Meloni defended Trump right up until yesterday, and today her position lacks credibility,” said Matteo Renzi in an interview with the BBC: “Meloni has followed Trump on every front,” he added. “She nominated Trump for the Nobel Prize. They have turned the Italian government into a team of fans of the American president. Today, in his usual style, Trump has abandoned Giorgia Meloni.”

On Friday 19 June, the US President launched his first attack. Indeed, Donald Trump, during a telephone interview on the programme *Aria che tira* on La7, attacked the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni: ‘She begged me to have my photo taken with her; I felt sorry for her.’

“She’s probably,” he added, “glad that I spoke to her. I wasn’t obliged to speak to her! The Europeans have got it all wrong on energy and they’ve got it all wrong on immigration, and if they don’t sort out these problems, Europe will never be the same again. They probably won’t manage to sort them out. Immigration is a disaster, and energy – with all those wind turbines that are a failure – is a disaster.”

Trump, in fact, continued to insist on the matter several hours later, after reactions had come in from Italy. “She was a great supporter,” he told NBC, “but I don’t want her as a fan, because neither she nor NATO were there when it came to the issue of the Strait of Hormuz.” Macron and Sánchez expressed their surprise and solidarity.

A similar situation had arisen not long ago, when Trump had attacked Meloni in an interview with *Corriere della Sera*. On that occasion, however, the Prime Minister had not responded officially. This time, however, things turned out differently. The Prime Minister’s response was extremely harsh. Meloni made her views known on social media. She began by clarifying that ‘Trump’s statements are completely fabricated. I am frankly stunned. Neither I nor Italia ever beg.’ She then added that ‘certain things deserve an immediate response. I don’t know why the US President behaves like this towards allies. It’s not the first time this has happened; I can only say that it’s a pity he doesn’t show the same determination towards the West’s enemies’.

There have been several voices from the majority in defence of Meloni. The first was her undersecretary Giovanbattista Fazzolari, who spoke of ‘Trump’s delusions’. The most ‘forceful’ response came from Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani, the Foreign Secretary, who cancelled his visit to Miami scheduled for early next week. “President Trump’s serious and offensive remarks towards Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are an insult to the whole of Italy. For this reason, I have decided to cancel my visit to the United States scheduled for 21 and 22 June.”

In light of the cancellation of Tajani’s visit to the US, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that the business and science forum scheduled to take place in Miami on Monday 22 June will not go ahead. The forum was to have been held as part of the political programme for the minister’s visit. According to a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will keep businesses and trade associations informed about future initiatives for bilateral economic partnership with the United States.

Shortly after Trump’s remarks, the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, rang Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to express his solidarity.

And just as had happened the first time, much of the opposition also showed solidarity with Meloni. Starting with the leader of the M5S Giuseppe Conte: ‘Italia does not deserve to find itself so blatantly humiliated,’ said Conte. ‘I say this as an Italian citizen first and foremost, rather than as a politician. It is also completely unacceptable that one of our allies should take the liberty of speaking in this way about our institutional leaders. I only hope that this will prompt some reflection so that we can learn from what has happened. Signing everything we are asked to sign, chasing after photo opportunities and writing forewords to books must never take precedence over our national interest. We must roll up our sleeves for our country, which must defend its dignity, its credibility and its greatness.”

Later that evening, the secretary of the PD , Elly Schlein , issued the following statement: “Trump’s attacks on Prime Minister Meloni are unacceptable and must be strongly condemned. We will not tolerate insults directed at our country’s government and we will continue to defend Italy’s institutions. However, we expect the right wing in this country to start doing more to defend them and to realise just how wrong its submissive attitude towards Trump has been.”