Schlein calls for unanimous condemnation of Trump’s attack on Meloni.
Italy’s opposition parties have largely closed ranks behind prime minister Giorgia Meloni following a sharp public attack on her by US president Donald Trump.
Trump told newspaper Corriere della Sera that he was “shocked” by Meloni, saying he had believed she had courage but had been mistaken, accusing her of failing to shoulder international responsibilities on issues ranging from Iran to NATO and adding that she was “no longer the same person.”
The trigger for the rupture was Meloni’s defence of Pope Leo XIV. The prime minister had publicly called Trump’s attacks on the pontiff “unacceptable,” stating she would not feel comfortable in a society in which religious leaders simply did as political leaders instructed.
Trump’s response was to declare that it was Meloni who was “unacceptable.”
In the chamber of deputies, the opposition centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) leader Elly Schlein called for unanimous condemnation of the American president’s attack on Meloni who had “dutifully expressed solidarity” with Pope Leo.
“We are adversaries in this chamber” – Schlein said – “but we are all Italian citizens, and we will not accept attacks or threats against the government or our country.”
Former European Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, who served as centre-left prime minister of Italy from 2016 to 2018, wrote on social media that Trump’s words were “unacceptable”.
Senate group leader Francesco Boccia of the PD said that in attacking the prime minister, Trump was offending Italy as a whole.
Carlo Calenda, leader of the centrist Azione party, praised Meloni for having “the courage to do what should have been done a long time ago: to say enough to this madman.”
The solidarity was not entirely unconditional. Riccardo Ricciardi, parliamentary leader of the Movimento 5 Stelle party, offered solidarity to the institution of the prime minister’s office, but accused Meloni of having pursued a partisan alliance with the American right rather than an institutional one, suggesting the attacks were a consequence of that approach.
Former premier Matteo Renzi of the centrist Italia Viva was more cutting, writing that Meloni was being abandoned even by her own allies and predicting a prolonged political decline.
Within government, foreign minister Antonio Tajani pushed back against Trump’s characterisation, describing Meloni as a brave leader who never shies away from saying what she thinks, while reaffirming that Italy remained a solid ally of the US, stressing that “Western unity was founded on mutual loyalty, respect and frankness”.
A government source acknowledged to news agency Adnkronos that the decision to distance Italy from Trump had been “an obligatory choice,” driven by the weight of public opinion and genuine solidarity with the pope, but accepted it carried risks on the international stage.
Photo credit: Marco Iacobucci Epp / Shutterstock.com
