U.S. President Donald Trump sharply criticized Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and made a series of statements about NATO, Europe, and the Pope. He also commented on Viktor Orbán’s defeat in the elections.
Donald Trump said this in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
Trump stated that he was disappointed with Meloni’s stance and accused her of failing to support the U.S.: “Do you like that your prime minister is doing nothing to get oil? Do people like that? I can’t imagine it. I’m shocked by her. I thought she had courage, but as it turned out, I was wrong.”
He also noted that he hasn’t spoken with her in a long time and believes Italy doesn’t want to join joint efforts: “No. She just says Italy doesn’t want to be involved. Even though Italy gets its oil from there, even though America is very important to Italy. She believes Italy shouldn’t participate in this. In her view, America should do all the work for her.“
Trump also spoke sharply about Meloni’s position on the Iran issue: ”She is the one who is unacceptable, because she doesn’t care whether Iran has nuclear weapons. If it gets the chance, it will destroy Italy in two minutes.”
In addition, he criticized NATO and the policies of European countries, stating their dependence on the U.S. in the areas of security and energy: “I asked them to send whatever they can, but they don’t want to. Because NATO is a paper tiger. They pay the highest energy prices in the world and yet aren’t even willing to fight for the Strait of Hormuz, where they get their supplies. They are completely dependent on Trump, who keeps that strait open.”
Separately, Trump commented on the Pope’s statements regarding peace, saying that the Pope does not understand the situation with Iran: “He doesn’t understand and shouldn’t talk about war, because he has no idea what’s going on. He doesn’t know that 42,000 protesters were killed in Iran last month.”
He also reacted to Viktor Orbán’s defeat in the Hungarian elections: “He was my friend. It wasn’t my election, but he was my friend, a good man. He did a good job on the immigration issue. He didn’t let people come and destroy his country, as happened in Italy.”