U.S. President Donald Trump brought up the tension in his relations with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the NATO summit in Ankara. Trump described Meloni as 'a good person,' but criticized her for not helping them in the conflict with Iran.
In a statement to reporters, Trump said, "My relationship with her has deteriorated a bit because she refused to help us. But I like her. I actually think she is a good person. However, I think she made a mistake," and noted that their relations had 'deteriorated a bit.'
Escalating Tensions on Social Media
Ahead of the NATO summit, Trump made a post on the Truth Social platform that inflamed tensions with the Italian prime minister. He shared a photo of Meloni looking up at him with the note, 'RESTRAINING ORDER NEEDED.'
The Italian government chose not to respond to this latest attack. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told La Stampa newspaper, "Trump speaks for himself. We have a U.S. president who especially likes to provoke on social media. We have decided to stop responding to such remarks."
Italy's Denial of Military Base Access
Another issue between the two countries was Italy's refusal in March to allow U.S. military aircraft to land at the Sigonella air base in Sicily. The decision, citing Washington's lack of prior permission, caused discomfort in the Trump administration.
While Meloni's office did not comment on how she would handle a meeting with Trump in Ankara, an unnamed source said the prime minister would not ignore Trump. The source stated that Meloni knows how to deal with such situations and could greet Trump 'with a smile.'
The Course of Relations
Once seen as a close ally of Trump, Meloni had tried to establish a close relationship with him by leveraging their common right-wing political stances. The Italian prime minister was the only European leader to attend Trump's presidential inauguration in 2025.
However, relations began to strain last month when Trump said in an interview with Italian TV channel La7 that Meloni had 'begged' to take a photo with him at the G7 summit in France. Meloni denied the claim and accused Trump of fabricating stories. Meloni also criticized Trump's harsh outburst at Pope Leo for condemning the Iran war, which drew a sharp reaction from the U.S. president.
