U.S. President Donald Trump harshly criticized Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for her unwillingness to support the war with Iran in an interview published on Tuesday, April 14th.
“I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” he said of his political ally in an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. Trump stated that she refused to involve Italy in the conflict, despite the country’s heavy reliance on oil from the region.
The interview was published less than 24 hours after Meloni condemned Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo XIV as “unacceptable,” following the pontiff’s repeated calls for an end to the war in the Middle East.
He told Corriere that it was Meloni herself who was “unacceptable,” alleging she was indifferent to the prospect of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons.
