From "courageous" woman to "unacceptable": How the Trump-Meloni friendship fell apart

2026-04-15 21:42:20Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

President Donald Trump has changed his approach to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, calling her an "unacceptable" leader and saying she lacks the courage to support US military intervention in Iran.

"I thought she was a courageous woman, but I was wrong," Trump said in a telephone interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Previously, he had called Meloni "one of the world's leaders" and a "fantastic and energetic" woman. While Meloni had said of her, he could speak openly to her even when they disagreed.

Everything seemed to be going well, until Trump did something that many Italians consider sacrilege; he attacked Pope Leo XIV.

Trump said he did not believe the Holy Father was doing a good job, that he was weak on crime, and that he should no longer serve the radical left.

"We don't like a pope who says it's okay to have nuclear weapons," Trump also said.

His comments came after Pope Leo openly criticized the American intervention in Iran from day one, saying it was the result of the "illusion of omnipotence."

No matter which political wing you are on in Italy, the idea of ??questioning or criticizing the Holy Father is considered a red line.

Meloni himself called Trump's criticism of Leo XIV "unacceptable." "The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church and it is right and normal for him to call for peace and condemn wars," Meloni said.

Trump went further, saying that the Italian prime minister had no problem with the fact that Iran had nuclear weapons and could wipe out Italy in 2 minutes if given the chance.

But, in addition to criticism of the Pope, what contributed to the deterioration of relations between the leaders of the two countries was the refusal of official Rome to make the Sigonella air base in Sicily available to the American air force.


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