Donald Trump has had a falling out with the Italian prime minister.
In fact, as you may have heard, the entire country is angry with the president.
Giorgia Meloni hit back hard, accusing Trump of fabricating a story about her.
Trump had said: “She begged me to take a picture with her. She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her.”
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“Donald Trump’s statements are completely made up,” said the prime minister, who has been an ally. “I am frankly astonished. I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves like this towards his allies: it is not the first time, moreover…
“There is one thing he should remember: Neither I nor Italy ever beg.”
The flap, which prompted Italy’s foreign minister to cancel a planned U.S. visit, underscores how Trump’s policies, here and abroad, are driven by personal relationships.
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What we might view as a harmless bit of embellishment managed to insult an entire country, and alienate one of the few European leaders who has backed the U.S.
In the wake of Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Iran, which has been fiercely criticized by Republicans as well as Democrats for making too many concessions, he is taking flak from another ally as well.
Israel’s top newspaper, owned by billionaire donor Miriam Adelson, denounced the president.
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The headline: “You could have been the greatest president of all, but you failed.”
In Israel Hayom, Danny Zaken wrote that Trump “may be remembered forever as the president who brought about America’s humiliation.”
He added: “You made a colossal mistake. You failed by signing a surrender agreement with a murderous and cruel terror regime…
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“We feel betrayed, nothing less, because your heart was, it seemed, in the right place, with all your flaws.”
Adelson, an Israeli-American doctor, is the widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. Trump awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018, and she has donated massive sums to pro-Trump groups and campaigns.
Trump has been furious with Bibi Netanyahu for continuing to mount attacks in Lebanon, and made sure everyone knew it, with JD Vance joining in publicly scolding Israel. Netanyahu’s continued assault on Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon prompted the mullahs to cancel Friday’s planned agreement signing with the vice president in Switzerland.
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Perhaps the most dramatic, live-action clash with another foreign leader came last year when Trump unloaded on Volodymyr Zelenskyy, canceled their planned lunch and booted him out of the White House. Zelenskyy, who was also lectured by Vance, didn’t help things by taking the bait and responding back in prickly fashion.
The president was more resistant after that to aiding Ukraine in the war against the invading Russians, though his strong relationship with Vladimir Putin was likely a significant factor as well. Trump and Zelenskyy have since repaired their relationship, and met at the G-7 summit in France.
By contrast, charming the president can also be effective. When Zohran Mamdani was running for New York mayor, Trump constantly attacked him, threatening to withhold federal funds and deploy federal troops if the Muslim socialist was elected.
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He called Mamdani a “communist lunatic” who hates the police and Jewish people, declaring “we’re not going to ruin one of our great cities… We will clean up the crime in about 30 days.”
But when Mamdani came to the White House after the election, the tone was strikingly positive.
“I met with a man who’s a very rational person. I met with a man who wants to see – really wants to see – New York be great again,” Trump said. “I’ll be cheering for him.”
The president added:
“We agree on a lot more than I would have thought I want him to do a great job, and we’ll help him do a great job.”
Mamdani, who had previously called Trump a “fascist” and “despot,” also praised their conversation.
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At a second meeting, the mayor pitched the president on a massive housing project in Queens, where Trump grew up and which Mamdani represented as an assemblyman.
Mamdani gave Trump a fake New York Daily News front page that depicted the president as a champion builder who could make a lasting difference in New York.
They have since clashed on several issues but have quietly been texting each other.
For Trump, there is no line between policy and personality. When vowing to use military force if necessary to seize Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, he threatened to impose a 10% tariff on goods from Denmark and seven other European countries opposing the effort. This was partly a result of the Danish prime minister insisting she would not be blackmailed.
As for the feud between Trump and Giorgia Meloni, both sides escalated their rhetoric over the weekend: The president posted:
“She wouldn’t even let us use Italy’s landing strips or runways, a great logistical inconvenience, and this despite the fact the U.S. contributes hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year to protect Italy, and other ‘so-called’ NATO Allies. Now, after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again in order to get her ‘numbers up.’ No thanks!!!”
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Meloni called the president’s attacks “senseless,” saying: “As for my popularity, being your friend has certainly not helped it, nor does it depend on my relationship with you… I suggest you focus on yours.”
It’s like a schoolyard fight in which both brawlers want the last word.
All politics, of course, turns on relationships to some degree. When a candidate is seeking an endorsement or a lawmaker is courting colleagues on a bill, a backslapping approach definitely helps.
But with Donald Trump, it’s the driving force in how he does business, period, and those who anger or irritate him quickly learn there are negative consequences.
