Editor’s note: This article was updated on April 15, 2026
(LifeSiteNews) — U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on his criticism of Pope Leo XIV and expanded his attack to include Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
On April 14, during a telephone interview with the Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera, Trump sharply criticized Meloni for declining to assist U.S. initiatives related to Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, accusing her government of “unwillingness” to cooperate and questioning Italy’s stance on energy security and geopolitical engagement.
“[Pope Leo] doesn’t understand it, he is not the guy that should be talking about war, because he has no idea what’s going on. He doesn’t understand that in Iran they killed 42,000 protesters last month. He doesn’t understand that, does he?” Trump said.
On April 13, Meloni publicly defended the Pope. In her first official statement, addressed to Leo XIV, she wrote: “In my personal name and on behalf of the Italian government, I wish to extend to Pope Leo XIV my most sincere thanks and best wishes for the successful outcome of the apostolic journey that will lead him for the first time to Africa.”
Later that afternoon – after criticism over her silence regarding the media dispute involving the U.S. president and the Pope – she issued a second statement: “I thought that the meaning of my statement this morning was clear, but I reiterate it more clearly. I find the words of President Trump towards the Holy Father unacceptable. The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal that he calls for peace and condemns every form of war.”
According to what was reported by Il Corriere della Sera, on the morning of April 14, “even before we asked him a question, it was the President of the United States who asked us one, harshly criticizing Giorgia Meloni.” Trump thus asked the journalists whether Italians liked “the fact that your president [of the Council] is not giving us any help to obtain oil? I cannot imagine it. I am shocked by her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong.”
Trump also declared that he has not had communications with Meloni “for a long time” and criticized Italy’s choice not to actively support the United States in the war against Iran. “There is no longer the same relationship with those who deny us help,” he said.
“She simply says that Italy does not want to be involved, even though Italy gets its oil from there, and even though America is very important for Italy. She thinks that America should do the work for her,” Trump declared.
Regarding Meloni’s position in favor of Pope Leo XIV, Trump specified: “It is she who is unacceptable, it is unacceptable because she does not care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and that it would blow Italy up in two minutes if it had the possibility.”
According to Trump, the lack of a position by the Italian government and, more generally, by European governments in favor of the United States will have serious repercussions in geopolitical and economic terms.
“Europe is going in the wrong direction with immigration, and they are destroying themselves, they are devouring themselves from within. Their immigration policies are destroying Europe. It is no longer the same place, and it is very sad to see it. And they are hurting themselves very seriously with energy. They pay the highest prices in the world for energy, and they are not even willing to fight for the Strait of Hormuz, which is where they get their energy. They depend on Donald Trump to keep it open.”
“They had better wake up, because you will no longer have an Italy. You will no longer have an Italy,” warned the American president in conclusion.
The defense of the Pope by Meloni comes at the same time as the decision to suspend the automatic renewal of the defense agreement with Israel “in consideration of the current situation,” taken by the Italian government on April 13.
This agreement had been signed on June 16, 2003, in Paris and entered into force on June 8, 2005, after ratification by the Italian Parliament. It provided for cooperation between the two states in the defense sector, with exchange of military materials, intelligence, and technological research between the Italian Army and the Israeli Defense Forces.
The agreement is automatically renewed every five years, unless it is explicitly suspended by one of the two parties, in which case it ceases to have effect on the sixth month following its notification. The missed renewal would have extended its effects until 2031.