JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump is now at odds with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Trump threatened not to defend Italy amid deteriorating relations between the two countries over the Iran war and Trump's attitude towards Pope Leo.
"Italy is not there for us, we will not be there for them either!" Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform, as reported by ANTARA from Anadolu, Friday, April 17.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was previously a close ally of Trump, has in recent days clashed with the US President amid growing differences between NATO allies.
The tensions were triggered by Trump's harsh criticism of Pope Leo as well as the US-Israeli decision to fight Iran, which then shook global markets.
On Tuesday, Trump said he was "shocked" that Meloni "didn't want to help" the US in the war against Iran.
He made the statement to the newspaper Corriere della Sera after Meloni said Trump's anger at Pope Leo "is not acceptable."
"He is unacceptable because it does not matter that Iran has nuclear weapons and can destroy Italy in two minutes if it has the chance," Trump said, referring to Meloni.
Pope Leo previously voiced solidarity for Palestinians in Gaza and opposed the US-Israeli war against Iran.
"Can someone tell Pope Leo Iran has killed at least 42,000 unarmed protesters in the last two months, and Iran has a nuclear bomb (which) is totally unacceptable," Trump said.
In Italy, Meloni and opposition figures strongly criticized Trump's statement.
Although Pope Leo is from the US, the Vatican's existence as a small country in Rome and the dominance of Catholicism in Italy make any attack on the pope almost feel like an attack on Italy.
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