Politico reports:

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday branded Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as “unacceptable” and complained she was “no longer the same person,” a day after she criticized his attack on Pope Leo XIV.

In a phone interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Trump said he was “shocked by her. I thought she was brave, but I was wrong.”

Asked about Meloni’s comments on Monday — where she branded Trump’s attack on Pope Leo XIV as unacceptable — the U.S. president retorted: “It’s her who’s unacceptable, because she doesn’t care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if it had the chance.”

The prime minister’s political allies are standing by her. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto backed her boss on X, writing that “Giorgia Meloni is a leader who has never been afraid to speak her mind, especially when principles, respect and identity are at stake.”

With this recent spat, Trump has turned on his last — and maybe staunchest — ally in Europe. [Continue reading…]