The president of the United States, donald trumphas once again attacked the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after ensuring that she has not been sufficiently involved in the war in Iran, a conflict that Israel and Washington started jointly on February 28.
“After spending billions of dollars on NATOItaly—and its prime minister—would not even consider getting involved with the Islamic Republic of Iran and its very serious nuclear threat,” the president has written on his Truth Social network.
Trump has insisted in the message on one of the ideas that he has repeated since the war in Iran began and that is the lack of help that, in his opinion, he has received from his allies, and he regretted that “for decades” they have defended them. “When push comes to shove, they are not there to defend us or the rest of the world,” he said.
A week of tension between both leaders
The statements by the president of the United States come in a week of tension with the Italian prime minister. The president assured in an interview with the Italian network La7 and later in Truth Social that Meloni She “begged” him to take a photo with him during the G7 summit held in France and he agreed “because she felt sorry for him.”
Trump assured at the time that Meloni was having popularity problems and that the photo with him would help improve it. However, the Italian president’s response was immediate and she categorically denied such claims, calling the story “invented”: “Italy and I never begged.”
The clash between the two leaders, once allies, escalated to the diplomatic arena when the Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajanicanceled a planned visit to Washington and declared that Trump’s words “offend all of Italy.”
Criticism extends to Italy and NATO
In any case, Trump’s statements this Sunday are not limited to Meloni, until now considered one of his trusted people in Europe, but extend to Italy and the NATO.
Since the war with Iran began, almost four months ago, the president has questioned countries that, like Italy, have not wanted to get involved in the conflict and have not completely ceded their bases to the United States. The NATOalso alluded to in Truth’s message, has received continued criticism from Trump in recent months.
The president has not hesitated to define NATO as a “paper tiger” and has even stated that he is “seriously” considering withdrawing the United States from the Atlantic Alliance, although he would need the approval of the United States Congress to do so.
