Trump Turns on Italy’s Giorgia Meloni: "I Thought She Was Brave — I Was Wrong"

The U.S. president launched a sharp attack this evening (Tuesday) on Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. In an interview with the Italian newspaper "Corriere della Sera," Trump expressed deep disappointment with Meloni’s performance regarding security issues and tensions with Iran.

Trump opened the interview with a rhetorical question aimed at the Italian public: "Do you like that your president does nothing to secure oil? Does the public like that? I can’t imagine. I’m shocked by her. I thought she had courage; I was wrong. She’s not the same person I knew."

The American president noted that "Italy benefits from oil supplies from the Middle East but refuses to take an active role in protecting the supply routes, like the Strait of Hormuz. She simply says that Italy doesn’t want to be involved. Even though America is very important to Italy. She thinks America should do the job for her."

Trump again criticized NATO countries. According to him, "Europe is in a process of self-destruction. The NATO alliance is a paper tiger. Meloni refuses to help the organization in any real way. Europe pays the highest energy prices in the world, and they’re not even willing to fight for the strait from which they get it. They’re relying on Donald Trump to keep it open."

Trump concluded by comparing Meloni to the ousted prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, whom he called "a good friend." "Orbán did an excellent job on immigration," Trump noted. "He didn’t let people come in and destroy his country the way it happened in Italy. Immigration is killing Italy and all of Europe."

As a reminder, about a week and a half ago the Italian government announced that it is considering banning the U.S. from using Italy’s naval and air bases for purposes of the war in Iran. In addition, it was reported today that Meloni announced her government had decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defense agreement with Israel. In a conversation with reporters in Verona, Meloni said that "in light of the current situation, the government has decided to suspend the agreement’s automatic renewal."

Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded to the Italian prime minister’s announcement: "We do not have a security agreement with Italy. We have a memorandum of understanding from many years ago that never had any real content. This will not harm Israel’s security."