President Donald Trump escalated a burgeoning international crisis Tuesday, labeling Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni “unacceptable” after she rebuked his recent attacks on Pope Leo XIV. The sharp exchange marks a stunning collapse in the relationship between the two conservative allies, fueled by the Vatican’s vocal opposition to U.S. military operations in Iran.
In a phone interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Trump dismissed Meloni’s defense of the Pontiff, suggesting her stance endangers Italian national security.
“It’s her who’s unacceptable because she doesn’t mind that Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if they had the chance,” Trump said. The President added that he was “shocked” by the lack of support for the U.S.-led offensive, concluding that Meloni is “much different than I thought.”
The friction began Monday when Meloni issued a formal statement defending Pope Leo XIV—the first American-born Pope—following Trump’s social media broadsides against the Vatican. Meloni termed Trump’s rhetoric “unacceptable,” asserting that the Pope has a moral mandate to condemn “every form of war.”
Trump’s reversal on Meloni is total. Only last month, he described her as a “great leader and a friend.” On Tuesday, he retracted that sentiment: “I thought she was brave, but I was wrong.”
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The diplomatic firestorm stems from the Pope’s April 7 warning regarding Trump’s military posture in the Middle East. After the President threatened on Truth Social that a “whole civilization will die” if Iran did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the Pontiff signaled that such threats of mass civilian casualties were “truly unacceptable.”
“I would like to invite everyone to truly think in their hearts about the many innocent people… who would also become victims of this escalation,” the Pope told reporters at Castel Gandolfo.
Trump has responded by personalizing the conflict. On Sunday, he characterized the Pope as “WEAK on Crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy.” He further claimed the Catholic Church only elected an American Pope as a strategic move to manage his administration, stating, “If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”
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Despite the pressure, Pope Leo XIV remains defiant. Departing for an 11-day tour of Africa on Monday, the Pontiff told reporters he has “no fear” of the Trump administration. He pledged to continue advocating for multilateral dialogue over military escalation.
With Meloni now firmly in the crosshairs of the White House, the geopolitical fallout threatens to isolate the U.S. from its traditional European partners as the conflict in Iran intensifies.
