Row with Meloni: what line to take with Trump?
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was long regarded as a bridge-builder between the US and the EU, but this changed after Italy refused to allow the US to use its military bases in the war against Iran and US President Donald Trump criticised the Pope, creating a rift between the two leaders. Trump has now claimed that Meloni "begged" him for a joint photo at the G7 summit last week, and that he agreed out of "pity". Meloni has accused the US President of lying.
Hopefully this will be a lesson
Representatives of the Italian government should bear in mind that international relations are not based on personal friendships, Corriere della Sera admonishes:
“They should know that a country's national interests outlast the term of office of its respective representative; that international meetings are not gala dinners or PR stunts, and that it's pointless to vie for the favour of one influential figure or another. ... What really counts is not the personality of the head of state, but the specific clout of the country, which is determined not only by economic power and military strength, but also by history, culture, soft power and national dignity.”
Treat him like a difficult patient
Der Standard advises caution when dealing with Trump:
“The way Trump treats nations that are, in principle, friendly to him – his allies – is absurd. Not only has he made Meloni look ridiculous, he has also attacked the German Chancellor, snubbed the French President, the British Prime Minister, the President of the European Commission. ... So how should one approach Trump? He cannot be ignored. Total confrontation doesn't make any sense either. Who knows how quickly things could escalate or where it might end. What does help, however – and this is a lesson Meloni had to learn the hard way – is that pandering to him achieves absolutely nothing. Trump must be treated with the utmost caution, like a psychiatric patient who by some strange twist of history has ended up in this position.”
Seeking to destabilise the EU
La Stampa observes:
“The much-vaunted 'special relationship' has clearly failed; we are at a turning point. The ambiguity has finally been dispelled, though not on the prime minister's initiative. In this instance she remains the victim (and the one who has been insulted). She who for so long insisted on the narrative of her mission as a bridge-builder between the two sides of the Atlantic. And now that Trump's insults have been made public, it is precisely her European partners who are showing solidarity and defending her. For these remarks also have a geopolitical objective: to destabilise the EU, a goal that the US President shares with his friend Putin, and even with Xi Jinping.”