ROME — U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday branded Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as “unacceptable” and complained she was “no longer the same person,” a day after she criticized his attack on Pope Leo XIV.
In a phone interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Trump said he was “shocked by her. I thought she was brave, but I was wrong.”
Asked about Meloni’s comments on Monday calling Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo XIV unacceptable, the U.S. president retorted: “It’s her who’s unacceptable, because she doesn’t care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if it had the chance.”
Trump complained that Meloni expected the U.S. to “do the work for her” by protecting Italy from nuclear attack and ensuring the flow of oil.
He said the two hadn’t spoken in “a long time.”