It’s not me, it’s you: Italy’s Meloni is not the only one seeking distance from Donald

London: Giorgia Meloni was the toast of the White House this time last year when she visited Donald Trump and said they were on the same side in the fight against “woke” ideology.

The US president called the Italian prime minister a “very special person” and a friend who was doing a fantastic job.

“Everybody loves her and respects her, and I can’t say that about many people,” he said.

One year later, Trump has taken a bitter swipe at his former friend by declaring he was “shocked” that she disagreed with him after he berated Pope Leo XIV on social media.

Set aside, for a minute, the idea that a president can be shocked when a conservative Italian prime minister defends the Pope. What stood out in Trump’s attack was the way he lumped Meloni in with other European leaders who have let him down.

Trump told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that Meloni had turned out to be very different to what he thought, and he complained that she did not commit any help to the Strait of Hormuz in the war with Iran.

“I ⁠thought she had courage. I was wrong,” he said, according to a translation by Reuters.

At first, this looks like a predictable spat where Trump lashes out at someone who dares to disagree with him in public.

In fact, there is a lot more going on. First, there is a shift in Rome as the Italian prime minister dares to disagree with Trump. Second, there is a broader shift across Europe among other right-wing leaders. All of them want more distance from Donald.

While it is tempting to see this as the effect of Sunday’s election in Hungary, where Viktor Orbán was dumped as prime minister after campaigning heavily on his friendship with Trump in his campaign, the change in stance on the European right has been under way for months.

Meloni would have known to expect a White House whinge as soon as the Italian media asked her to comment on Trump’s remarks about Pope Leo. She was cautious at first: her initial statement defended the Pope without naming Trump. When political opponents said this was weak, she issued a second statement.

“I find President Trump’s words towards the Holy Father unacceptable,” she said. “The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and ​it is right and normal for him to call for peace and to condemn every form of war.” This was in a statement to the press.

Meloni did not escalate the argument by taking to X or other social media, which shows she did not want a nasty public dispute with Trump. At the same time, she had to defend the Pope. Losing her friendship with Trump was a price she was willing to pay.

It certainly looks dramatic, but there is also a calm judgment at work. Meloni appears to be calculating that being too close to Trump no longer adds up.

Last Thursday, for instance, Meloni told the Italian parliament that she did not see things the same way as Trump.

“You tell allies clearly when you do not agree,” she said. The war in Iran was the obvious issue, but she also named Ukraine, Greenland and tariffs.

One week earlier, news emerged that Meloni’s government had refused to allow US forces to use an Italian air force base in Sicily so bombers could refuel on their way to Iran.

So, the Italian leader was adjusting her stance well before Hungarian voters told Orbán what they thought of his close friendship with Trump and his welcome for US Vice President JD Vance in Budapest last week.

As always, domestic factors carry more weight than international friendships. Three weeks ago, Italian voters delivered a rebuke to Meloni by rejecting her plan to amend the constitution to allow changes to the judiciary. The changes were complex, and the vote was seen as a verdict on her government. In the end, 54 per cent of voters said No.

What Meloni is doing is rational politics in the light of the referendum, and the public opinion polls that show Italians do not support Trump’s war with Iran. This may be jarring for critics who claimed her victory in 2022 would usher in a hard-right regime or, worse, outright fascism. Since winning, she has governed as a social conservative, not an autocratic populist.

Two other decisions show Meloni is willing to break with the broader Trump movement on the war.

On Tuesday, her government suspended a defence co-operation deal with Israel. Last week, she signed a letter calling for a ceasefire in Lebanon.

And she is not alone in the European right. Orbán was an outlier for staying so close to Trump while others on the right sought to keep their distance – and the election showed he had made a massive miscalculation.

In France, conservative opposition figure Marine Le Pen has branded Trump’s war with Iran a “mistake” and is calling for a ceasefire in Lebanon.

In Germany, the leaders of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland, or AfD, want to break with Trump and the US over the war in Iran.

One of the AfD co-leaders, Tino Chrupalla, said US troops should start withdrawing from Germany. The other co-leader, Alice Weidel, called the US war “haphazard” and rejected Trump’s call for NATO allies to be part of an international force at the Strait of Hormuz.

Weidel argued that Trump’s request would turn NATO into an offensive alliance when it was structured as a defensive pact, according to reporting by German newspaper Die Welt.

Not so long ago, many in the European far right sought to borrow the Trump banner to win votes at home. They copied the MAGA brand with their claim to Make Europe Great Again. Some AfD members visited Washington to bond with the Trump camp. The AfD had vocal support from Vance before last year’s German elections.

In recent months, however, those same parties and their leaders have loosened those bonds.

Trump seems especially stung by Meloni. It was only last month that he called her a “great leader”. And it was only last October that he called her a “beautiful young woman” at a summit in Egypt to proclaim the ceasefire in Gaza. He no doubt thought his praise did her good.

Meloni had to defend the Pope. And she had to expect a rebuke from Trump. But her decision highlights the broader shift among European conservatives in breaking with the US president. They used to want his friendship and favours. Now they know his endorsement can be the kiss of death.

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