Italy Refuses to Engage Trump's Attacks on Meloni
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- Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told La Stampa that Rome had "decided to stop responding" to Trump's provocations, saying "Trump speaks for himself" and that Italy wants good US relations "regardless of who was president."
- Trump reignited the feud by posting on Truth Social a photo of Meloni looking up at him with the caption "RESTRAINING ORDER NEEDED," prompting questions about whether the two would clash at the NATO summit in Ankara on Tuesday and Wednesday.
- The original dispute dates to last month, when Trump told Italian TV channel La7 that Meloni had "begged" him for a photo at a G7 summit in France — a claim she denied and called fabricated.
- Meloni, once Trump's only European ally at his 2025 inauguration, criticized him earlier this year for attacking Pope Leo over the Iran conflict, drawing a blunt US rebuke accusing her of lacking courage.
- A source close to Meloni ruled out any snub of Trump at the Ankara summit, saying she "knew how to handle such situations" and would instead greet him "with a smile."
- Italian newspaper Il Foglio mocked Trump's jibe on its Tuesday front page, publishing a photo of Trump alongside Russia's Vladimir Putin under the same "RESTRAINING ORDER NEEDED" caption — showing Italian media, unlike the government, is not holding back.
- Several senior Italian officials attended a US Independence Day celebration at the ambassador's residence in Rome last week, signaling goodwill despite media speculation about a possible boycott.
Why it matters: Italy's restraint matters because Meloni is the far-right leader ideologically closest to Trump in Europe, making this rupture a rare crack in a key transatlantic alignment. With both leaders set to share a room at the Ankara NATO summit, the Italian strategy of smiling through provocations protects a working bilateral relationship at a time when allied unity is under visible strain.
