By Margherita Stancati

President Trump has criticized Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for her opposition to the war in Iran, marking a rupture between the White House and one of its closest European allies.

In an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Trump said he was disappointed that Italy had refused to get involved in the war. "I am shocked by her behavior. I thought she was brave, I was wrong," he said in remarks that were translated into Italian. "She doesn't want to help us through NATO, she doesn't want to help us get rid of the nuclear weapon. She is very different from what I thought."

A foreign policy priority for Meloni has been to keep the trans-Atlantic alliance alive. Unlike many of her European colleagues, the Italian premier has generally refrained from criticizing the Trump administration. But Rome has taken a clear stand against the war in Iran, seeing it as destabilizing for the region. Italy, which relies heavily on imports of natural gas, is especially vulnerable to disruptions to the energy supply chain.

Meloni has sided with Pope Leo XIV in his feud with Trump, who lashed out at the American pontiff for criticizing the war. "I find President Trump's remarks about the Holy Father unacceptable. The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and natural for him to call for peace and condemn all forms of war," Meloni said on Monday evening.

Those comments didn't go down well with Trump. "She is the one who is unacceptable, because she doesn't care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and it would blow up Italy in two minutes if it could," Trump told Corriere.

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April 14, 2026 11:40 ET (15:40 GMT)

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