Trump makes another U-turn on Meloni: ‘I’ve always liked her’

His relationship with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni “is very good”, “I’ve always liked her”. US President Donald Trump responded in this way to a question from journalists about his past attacks on the Italian Prime Minister. So have the serious tensions of recent months been overcome, when the White House chief had repeatedly criticised the Italian Prime Minister (as well as European allies), accusing her of not having done enough to help him during the attacks on Iran, particularly regarding the use of air bases? This is what the mercurial White House chief seems to be suggesting, following yesterday’s G7 summit dedicated to energy, at which the allies agreed to meet Washington’s demands and make diesel reserves available to stabilise prices. This was accompanied by praise (“Europe has been exceptional”).

‘It’s clear that with Donald Trump I thought things would be easier, given our shared views on immigration and “woke” culture. Things turned out differently,” Meloni admitted in the interview with the New York Times published in early September, on the eve of the historic milestone of longest-serving government in the Republic’s history. The Paris bureau chief, Roger Cohen, has penned a lengthy profile of the Prime Minister: a narrative designed to explain to US readers how Italia has changed during the nearly four years that the leader of Fratelli d’Italia has been in office at Palazzo Chigi.

The rift between the two came to a head in June after the G7 summit in Evian , when The Donald told La7 that he had been ‘begged” by the Prime Minister for a photograph together, adding that he had agreed because he “felt sorry for her”. The response came almost immediately: “Trump’s statements are t. I am frankly stunned. Italia and I never beg,” Meloni replied in a strongly worded video, garnering solidarity from her European partners gathered in Brussels. But tensions had begun in mid-April, after the Italian Prime Minister had described the US President’s remarks about Pope Leo XIV – whom he had labelled ‘weak’ in foreign policy – as ‘unacceptable’. Trump’s response came in an interview with *Corriere della Sera*, in which he directly attacked Meloni for her lack of support for the offensive in Hormuz: ‘I thought she was different; she’s not the same person anymore. She doesn’t care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow Italia to smithereens in two minutes if it had the chance.”

Then the new criticisms from Trump (“After the United States has defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again to boost her ‘numbers’. No, thank you’) and Meloni’s decision to no longer respond to attacks described as ‘unfounded” and “senseless”, but not before making a cold, clear statement: ‘As for my popularity, your friendship has certainly not helped, nor does it depend on my relationship with you. My popularity depends on my ability to defend Italia’s national interest, and that is exactly what I have always done’. And again: “My popularity is none of your concern. I suggest you focus on your own.” Whilst maintaining the conviction that “the unity of the West is very important”. And drawing a line between personal affinity and national interest: “I do not determine Italian strategy on the basis of my personal relationships.”

A rift that has not been mended even after the NATO summit in Ankara in early July, during which Meloni reiterated that Italy is intent on ‘honouring its commitments’ regarding defence spending (the 5 per cent of GDP demanded by Trump), but “in a sustainable manner, with us setting the timetable, methods and priorities according to the circumstances”. And that there would be no change of policy regarding the use of military bases in Italy (“our country will not take part in attacks on Iran”), despite Trump’s repeated disappointment on the matter (“Italia has been terrible”). This culminated in her admission to the New York Times that she had not spoken to Trump for several weeks. When asked whether she and Trump would be in touch after the summer break, Meloni hesitated and replied: “Well, we’ll see”.