President Trump Criticizes Italian PM Meloni for Refusing to Help War Against Iran

JAKARTA - President Donald Trump criticized Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for her reluctance to help the United States in the war against Iran, in an interview published Tuesday.

"I was surprised by him. I thought he was brave, but I was wrong," he said of his political ally in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera, reported Al Arabiya from AFP (14/4).

Meloni, Italy's far-right leader since October 2022, has been one of Trump's closest allies in Europe and has often sought to act as a mediator between different US and European views.

President Trump said PM Meloni did not want Italy to be involved in a war, which began with the Israeli-US attack on Iran, even though Italy gets most of its oil from the region.

The interview was published less than 24 hours after PM Meloni slammed Trump's criticism of Pope Leo XIV as "unacceptable", after the Pope had repeatedly called for an end to the war in the Middle East.

Trump told Corriere that Meloni was "unacceptable," accusing him of not caring if Iran had nuclear weapons.