Italy on Monday criticised US President Donald Trump’s latest social media attack on Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ahead of this week’s NATO summit.
Trump on Sunday published a doctored image on his Truth Social platform showing Meloni looking at him as if adoringly in a post accompanied by the words: “Restraining Order Needed”.
“People come and go but relations must endure,” Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto told the news channel Sky TG24.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also said he was “sure that transatlantic relations go well beyond individual comments”.
Meloni did not respond personally.
She was targeted by Trump last month after the G7 summit where he said that Meloni had “begged” him for a photo opportunity and that he only agreed because he “felt sorry for her”.
He also accused Meloni of trying to repair relations with Washington for domestic political reasons after Italy failed to support US action against Iran.
“These constant, unprovoked attacks are senseless”, she said at the time.
“Being your friend certainly has not helped” her popularity, she said, adding: “I suggest you focus on yours”.
Far-right leader Meloni had positioned herself as a European leader able to mediate between Europe and Trump but has increasingly distanced herself from him.
Trump has been highly critical of European NATO countries ahead of this week’s meeting in Ankara of the 32-country alliance.
