One of Donald Trump’s most reliable European partnerships has spectacularly imploded following the US President’s scathing denunciation of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whom he accused of cowardice and indifference to nuclear threats after she condemned his attacks on Pope Leo XIV as “unacceptable.”
The dramatic rupture marks a stunning reversal for Meloni—the only European leader attending Trump’s 2025 inauguration—whose close White House relationship now risks becoming a political liability as 66 per cent of Italians hold negative views of the American President, with pollsters suggesting her Trump ties contributed to last month’s referendum defeat on judicial reform.
“I’m shocked by her. I thought she had courage. I was wrong,” Trump told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, claiming he hasn’t spoken with Meloni “for a long time” and she was “very different from what I thought”—a stark contrast to last month’s praise of her as “a great leader.”
The confrontation erupted after Meloni defended Pope Leo XIV following Trump’s extraordinary attacks branding the pontiff “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” whilst posting an AI-generated image depicting himself as a Christ-like figure healing the sick—a move condemned across Christianity as blasphemous.
“The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal for him to call for peace and to condemn every form of war,” Meloni stated Monday, characterising Trump’s papal criticism as “unacceptable.”
Trump retaliated by accusing Italy’s leader of failing to care “whether Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow Italy up in two minutes if it had the chance” whilst denouncing her refusal helping reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“They pay the highest energy costs in the world and are not even ready to fight for the Strait of Hormuz… They depend on Donald Trump to keep it open,” the President stated, adding Italy wanted America “to do the job for her.”
Italy’s opposition to the Iran conflict has manifested through concrete actions, with Defence Minister Guido Crosetto denying US bombers access to Sicily’s Sigonella air base after learning warplanes planned landing without consultation.
“Italy is certainly not considering going to war with Iran. I don’t think there will ever be Italian soldiers or planes capable of bombing Iran,” Crosetto emphatically announced, adding: “Not only is it constitutionally impossible, but there isn’t even the will.”
Meloni condemned the conflict as “outside the scope of international law” whilst acknowledging Iranian regional security threats—a striking shift from a politician who built her reputation as one of Europe’s most reliable US allies.
The Pope controversy deepened following Trump’s AI-generated Christ image shared on Truth Social, showing himself robed whilst healing an ill man surrounded by adoring figures including nurses and soldiers, with fallen US servicemen ascending heaven in Renaissance painting style.
Christian leaders worldwide expressed fury, with UK Catholic commentator Austen Ivereigh warning it could mean “the end” for Trump’s presidency: “He’s now crossed the line. This is tipping into a level of messianism and narcissism which everybody is now recognising as deeply troubling.”
Italian theologian Massimo Faggioli compared the attacks to Second World War efforts by Hitler and Mussolini manipulating Pope Pius XII: “Not even Hitler or Mussolini attacked the pope so directly and publicly.”
Pope Leo XIV—currently touring four African countries—told Reuters aboard the papal flight he won’t engage Trump in debate: “I will continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace. Too many innocent people are being killed. Someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way.”
