What seemed like a natural alliance between two leaders of the radical right has crashed against the geopolitical reality of 2025 and 2026. The political idyll between Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni, that "fantastic woman" for the US president who "made a sensation in Europe," has expired amidst tariffs, irreconcilable views on the world order, and attacks on the Vatican.
The economy has been the first major erosive of the Washington-Rome relationship. Meloni traveled to the White House in April 2025 with the aim of positioning herself as a mediator and avoiding a trade war between the US and the EU. However, she found that Trump's protectionism does not distinguish between allies and rivals, and the imposition of a generalized 20% tariff hit directly at the heart of the Italian industry.
The second point of disagreement is European security. While Meloni has maintained a strong loyalty to NATO and support for Ukraine, Trump is pushing for a resolution to the conflict that would force Kiev to accept painful territorial concessions. The prime minister has also shown her "disagreement" with the Republican on another challenge to the EU: territorial threats over Groenland and his intention to annex it to the US. The Italian defended "European sovereignty" and described the Republican's proposal as an anachronism that ignored international law. "I believe that international law should be widely defended. When I disagree with it, I say so, I have no difficulty," she stated last January.
The announcement yesterday that Italy has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the Defense agreement with Israel, a pact in force since 2005, is not only a diplomatic punishment to Benjamin Netanyahu for the incursions in Lebanon, which have caused hundreds of deaths, but also represents a challenge to Trump's doctrine of unconditional support for his ally Israel and his strategy in the Middle East.
If the economy opened the gap, religion caused the public rupture. The recent attack by the Republican against Pope León XIV and the subsequent image generated with artificial intelligence in which Trump portrayed himself as Jesus Christ placed Meloni in an impossible position for a leader who has cemented her legitimacy on the motto "God, Country, and Family." In an unusually strong gesture, the prime minister described the words of the US president as "unacceptable." The Italian reaffirmed her statements against Trump and his particular war against the Vatican: "I think I have been very clear. I don't know how many other leaders have spoken out. Well, this is for those who say that there would be subordination."
Internally weakened after the recent setback of the referendum on judicial reform in March, Meloni has shown strength by distancing herself from the man she welcomed in her second term as the "beacon of conservatism," a leader "with a clear vision for the future," and whom she thanked for his "warmth and respect towards the Italian nation." That "unbreakable friendship" has been replaced by suspicion.