4/14/26
“I thought the point of my statement this morning was clear, but I'll reiterate it even more clearly. I find President Trump's words towards the Holy Father unacceptable. The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal that he calls for peace and condemns all forms of war.” - Italian PM Giorgia Meloni
Jason Davidson, professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington, told Newsweek that the U.S.-Italy relations are not “permanently damaged” by the dispute, but that it “does seem that Trump's relationship with Meloni is not in great shape and may not improve.” Meloni has been “a very important pro-Trump voice among NATO and European Union governments,” he said. “Having already lost Victor Orban to election defeat, it is a lot less likely that the administration's perspective will be viewed sympathetically in Brussels,” he said. He noted that prior to Trump’s Greenland threats, Meloni might have “pulled her punches in reacting to Trump” but that she likely “increasingly sees lots of downsides in being affiliated” with the American president.