‘Trump is not reasonable’: How Meloni-Trump relationship unraveled within months

In January, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was the lone dissenter at a meeting of nearly 30 European leaders when she argued that US President Donald Trump could still be reasoned with, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The summit was organised to discuss Trump’s coercive campaign against Europe, and European leaders met with no phones or aides present to ensure absolute privacy. Meloni disagreed even as leader after leader expressed frustration that Trump was impossible to deal with.

After all, for several months, Meloni was seen as a bridge between Trump and Europe, and the two leaders often praised each other. But the relationship broke down within weeks.

When European leaders gathered for another meeting in March, Meloni conceded that she was revising her view of Trump and lamented that he “is not reasonable”.

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Since those two secret meetings, the Meloni-Trump relationship —and the Europe-Trump relationship more broadly— has only gone downhill.

How Meloni got a reality check

Until late last year, Meloni was one of the Trump whisperers. Today, she is one of his harshest critics.

While Trump has criticised almost every major European leader, those criticisms have generally been rooted in politics. With Meloni, the dispute has become both personal and political.

The first public crack in the relationship emerged over Meloni’s refusal to grant the United States permission to use Italian airspace and airbases to bomb Iran. Trump said that “I thought she was brave, but I was wrong”.

The two leaders clashed again when Trump and his Maga base went on the offensive against Pope Leo XIV and Meloni sided with Leo. She said Trump’s remarks were “unacceptable”.

Meloni further said, “The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and proper that he calls for peace and condemns all forms of war.”

Trump immediately lashed out at Meloni, saying that it was she who was “unacceptable” and that she was “no longer the same person” whom he had first met.

The final straw in the relationship was Trump’s false claim that she had “begged” for a photograph with him during the G7 Summit last month. Meloni flatly rejected the claim, and her government cancelled scheduled visits to the United States as the episode spiralled.

Meloni said she was “frankly stunned” by Trump’s claims, which she described as “completely fabricated”.

In one of her most scathing criticisms of Trump, Meloni said, “I don't know why the US president behaves this way towards his own allies” — an apparent reference to Trump’s coercive campaign against Europe and his appeasement of Russia and China.

“I can only say that it’s a shame he doesn’t share the same resolve towards the enemies of the West, towards the enemies of the United States, towards leaders with whom he is, on the other hand, much more accommodating. But there is one thing he must remember: Italy and I do not beg,” said Meloni.