US President Donald Trump has turned on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, calling her “unacceptable” and claiming she lacks “courage” to back the US intervention in Iran after she condemned his attacks on Pope Leo XIV.
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The unexpected public rift between the two leaders, who cultivated one of the closest transatlantic relationships over the past year, erupted after Trump criticized the pontiff for his anti-war stance on Iran.
“I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” Trump told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Tuesday.
Trump previously called Meloni “one of the real leaders of the world” and “full of energy, fantastic”, while Meloni said she was able to speak to him “frankly even when we disagree”.
It all seemed to be going so well until Trump did something that, for many Italians, is regarded as sacrilege: he lambasted no one else than the Holy Father.
Trump said he did not think Pope Leo
Trump’s comments came after Pope Leo XIV openly criticized the US intervention in Iran from day one, stating just this weekend that a “delusion of omnipotence” is fueling it.
Wherever you sit on the political spectrum in Italy, the idea of questioning, much less criticizing, the pontiff is a red line.
Meloni on Monday called Trump’s criticism of the pope “unacceptable”.
“The pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal for him to call for peace and to condemn all forms of war,” Meloni said.
She added she would not feel comfortable living in a society where “religious leaders do as they are told by politicians”.
Trump pushed back, telling the Italian daily, “She’s unacceptable because she doesn’t mind that Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if they had the chance.”
Parallel to this, it emerged that at the end of March, Italy had refused a request from the US military for aircraft to land at the Naval Air Station Sigonella on the island of Sicily, falling in line with countries like Spain and France that refused Washington’s requests to overfly their territory before continuing towards the Middle East and fighting the war in Iran.
And in another move likely to annoy the White House, Meloni announced on Tuesday that Italy had suspended the automatic renewal of its defense agreement with Israelwhich involves the exchange of military equipment and technology research.
But after Trump’s jibes at the pope, can the relationship ever be repaired or will it be for conservative Meloni, dead and buried for good? Whatever happens from here, let’s take a look at how one of the closest transatlantic relationships developed.
December 2024: First face-to-face in Paris
The first meaningful encounter between Trump and Meloni dates back to late 2024 and the reopening ceremony of Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral.
It was a brief meeting, in a very crowded multilateral context, but it was enough to leave an impression on the US president, who described the Italian premier as a “real live-wire”.
Trump gushed that Meloni was “full of energy (and) fantastic” according to people who were present at the meeting and who saw the encounter as a sign of warmer ties to come as Trump was still at that point president-elect and had yet to start his second term.
January 2025: Mar-a-Lago and the Sala crisis
In the middle of the drama surrounding the Kidnapping of journalist Cecilia Sala in IranMeloni flew to Florida for a meeting with Trump at his Florida Mar-a-Lago residence.
The visit was brief, not preceded by any official announcement, and was interpreted as a strong political gesture at a time of heightened international tension.
According to sources close to the president, Trump was impressed and described Meloni as a leader who has “really taken Europe by storm”.
“This is very exciting,” Trump told a group at Mar-a-Lago. “I’m here with a fantastic woman, the prime minister of Italy.”
In the days that followed, Trump publicly praised Meloni for flying all the way to the US just to spend a few hours with him.
January 2025: One of the few Europeans at the inauguration
Meloni was one of the few European leaders invited to Trump’s inauguration in Washington. Her presence there was interpreted as having significant political weight, particularly given that so many other European leaders had been sidelined.
Just days later in Davos, Trump hinted at the possibility of a personal and political relationship with the Italian premier. “I like her a lot, let’s see what happens,” he said.
His praise for Meloni stood in stark contrast to his general belligerence towards the EU as a whole, slamming the 27-member bloc as treating “the United States very badly” against a backdrop of ongoing trade tensions.
April 2025: The political peak of the relationship?
An official visit to the White House represented, for some, the high point of the relationship between the two leaders, a meeting accompanied by a strong media presence and definitely more personal tones.
Trump saved his warmest words for a social media post after the meeting: “She loves her country, and the impression she left on everyone was fantastic!”
During the White House talks, Meloni invited Trump to visit Italy and proposed an expanded format with European leaders to consolidate a direct political channel between Washington and Brussels.
Diplomatic sources described the meeting as “solid on the political level and surprisingly relaxed on the personal level” and generally harmonious.
April 2025: First informal talks at the Vatican
At the funeral of Pope Francis, the two meet briefly in the Vatican. The context was considered highly symbolic and significant, with numerous world leaders present.
Sources present reported a quick but significant exchange, in which international affairs were briefly touched upon, a fleeting meeting that appeared to confirm the continuity of the direct channel between the two.
June 2025: The isolated bench talks at the G7
The G7 in Canada was one of the most significant meetings between the pair, with Trump and Meloni choosing to isolate themselves on a wooden bench on the sidelines of the summit in Kananaskis.
That conversation, according to diplomatic sources, was long and direct and helped to reconcile some tensions in the final drafting of the declaration on the then 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran, which also saw US military involvement.
Just days later at a NATO summit, the two again sat side by side and had an informal discussion on the main security issues.
August 2025: The Zelenskyy meeting
Meloni attended an international meeting convened by Trump at the White House with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in attendance, designed to discuss the future of Western support for Kyiv.
Trump hailed the meeting as a “big day” as Zelenskyy and his European allies all came to the US capital for a major discussion on how to end Russia’s all-out war in Ukraine.
The US president then called Meloni “a great leader, an inspiration to all.”
Trump also praised the Italian premier for leading her country at a young age and predicted she would be in office for a long time.
October 2025: The Gaza summit in Egypt
In Egypt, the two leaders meet at the peace summit for Gaza, amid the new plan promoted by Trump to end the Israel-Hamas war.
The US president, on stage, joked: “Who is this woman?” He then introduced Meloni to the international audience as “a very strong leader, she’s doing a great job,” and a “beautiful young woman”.
The next day, on social media, Trump endorsed Meloni’s autobiography and urged his followers to read it.
Early 2026: From the Nobel Prize to first tensions
On the US president’s role in attempting to stop Russia’s war in Ukraine, Meloni said on January 23 after a summit with Germany: “I hope we can give the Nobel Peace Prize to Trump and I trust that he can also make a difference on a just and lasting peace for Ukraine … and then finally we too can nominate Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.”
The prize instead went to Venezuelan opposition politician María Corina Machado “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
That decision did not go down well with Trump, who has long coveted the award, and he told Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre he no longer needed to think “purely of peace” after failing to win the prize.
“Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace,” Trump said in a message.
By early 2026, Meloni reiterated her willingness to confront Trump even when she disagreed with his positions. At the same time, the first structural differences on NATO and the Middle East were beginning to emerge.
March 2026: Hormuz Strait, the first real operational rift
The crisis sparked by Iran’s closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz marked the first substantial point of friction between Washington and Rome.
Trump was getting increasingly vocal about his call for allies to assemble a naval force to open the strait going largely unanswered, with Italy among the most important countries which refused to become involved.
The European position was slammed by Trump, who called NATO a “paper tiger” and said he was considering withdrawing the US from the military alliance.
April 2026: The public rift
At the height of the crisis, some statements from Washington were interpreted in Rome as direct criticism of the Italian government’s position.
Sources spoke of “uncoordinated tones through diplomatic channels,” signaling a more formal communicative shift than had been previously used.
The government’s response was firm: “Italy remains committed to international security, but every decision takes place within the NATO and multilateral framework.”