President Trump did a six minute interview with an Italian news outlet this morning and blasted Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, essentially calling her a coward for not aiding NATO with the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said, “I thought she had courage; I was wrong,” and made clear his displeasure with someone who he thought was “very different.”
The President was also asked about Pope Leo’s comments and the defeat of Orban in Hungary.
It’s a short read below, via Corriere:
“Do you like the fact that your Prime Minister isn’t doing anything to secure oil?” asks Donald Trump in a phone call with *Corriere della Sera*. “Do people like that? I can’t imagine so. I am shocked by her. I thought she had courage; I was wrong.”
Before we can ask him a question, it is the President of the United States who asks *us* one—in an exclusive interview—inquiring about Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Did you speak to her about this?
“No. She simply says that Italy doesn’t want to get involved. Even though Italy gets its oil from over there; even though America is very important to Italy. She doesn’t think Italy should be involved. She thinks America should do the work for her.”
Regarding the Pope, Giorgia Meloni stated that what you said was unacceptable.
“It is *she* who is unacceptable, because she doesn’t care if Iran acquires a nuclear weapon—and they would blow Italy sky-high in two minutes if they had the chance.”
But did you actually discuss these matters?
“No…”
You haven’t spoken even once this past month?
“No, not for a long time.”
Why?
“Because she doesn’t want to help us with NATO; she doesn’t want to help us get rid of the nuclear threat. She is very different from what I thought.”
In the interview, which lasts just over six minutes, Donald Trump harshly criticizes the Italian Prime Minister—whom, just a month ago in another interview with *Corriere della Sera*, he himself had described as a friend and a great leader who “always tries to help.” “She is no longer the same person, and Italy won’t be the same country,” the American President now says. “Immigration is killing Italy—and all of Europe.”
Trump reiterates that Europe is “destroying itself from within” through its immigration policies and its energy-related policies. “They pay the highest energy costs in the world, yet they aren’t even prepared to fight for the Strait of Hormuz—the very place from which they receive it. They rely on Donald Trump to keep it open.”
When asked whether he had requested the use of Italian minesweepers for the Strait of Hormuz, the American President stated: “I asked them to send whatever they wanted, but they won’t—because NATO is a paper tiger.”
Regarding Pope Leo and his appeal for peace, Trump asserted that the Pope fails to grasp that Iran poses a nuclear threat. “He doesn’t understand; he shouldn’t be talking about war, because he has no idea what is actually happening. He doesn’t realize that, just last month, the regime in Iran killed 42,000 protesters.”
When asked if he was disappointed by Orban’s defeat, he replied: “He was a friend of mine—it wasn’t *my* election, of course, but he was a friend: a good man who did an excellent job on immigration. He didn’t let people come in and ruin his country the way Italy did.”
I really thought when Meloni sent resources to help defend the gulf nations being attacked by Iran, that she was not going to be like the rest of Europe and perhaps stand up to them. Looks like Trump doesn’t have a strong friend left in Europe.