Meloni Responds to Trump's Criticism: "My Popularity is None of Your Business"

ROME, June 20. /TASS/. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that her popularity does not concern Donald Trump and advised the American president to think about his ratings.

"As for my popularity, being your friend did not contribute to it, and it depends not on my relationship with you, but on my ability to protect national interests. In any case, my popularity is none of your business, I advise you to focus on your own," Meloni wrote on Instagram (banned in Russia, owned by Meta Corporation, recognized as extremist in Russia) in response to Trump's publication on the Truth Social network. In it, the American leader accused her of ingratitude for refusing to support the US military operation against Iran and trying to get a joint photo at the G7 summit in France to boost her own rating.

He also raised the issue of the non-admission of American aircraft to bases in Italy during the operation against Iran.

Meloni said the use of the bases is regulated by agreements, which Rome has always respected.

"These unprovoked attacks are senseless," Meloni wrote.

The current blowup is a new twist in a widening rift between the two leaders.

The US president had previously accused Meloni, like all European leaders, of unwillingness to help with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. Tensions increased even more when the Italian prime minister publicly stood up for Pope Leo XIV, calling Trump’s statements about him unacceptable. Prior to that, Meloni avoided criticizing Trump, whom she proposed nominating for the Nobel Peace Prize. In the EU, the Italian prime minister was considered one of the closest European leaders to the American president, for which she was criticized.