Trump digs in amid rows with Italy over Pope, Iran war

US President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to not come to Italy's defense as ties between Washington and Rome continue to fray amid rows over the Iran war and Catholic Pope Leo.

"Italy wasn't there for us, we won't be there for them!" Trump exclaimed on his Truth Social platform.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, once a close ally of the US president, has in recent days locked horns with Trump amid a widening divide between the NATO allies prompted by Trump's vocal criticism of Pope Leo and his earlier decision to go to war against Iran alongside Israel, a conflict that has destabilized global markets.

On Tuesday, Trump said he was "shocked" that Meloni "doesn't want to help us in the war" against Iran.

His remarks to the Corriere della Sera newspaper came after Meloni called Trump's fury over Catholic Pope Leo's opposition to the war in Iran "unacceptable."

"She's unacceptable because she doesn't mind that Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if they had the chance," Trump said.

The pope has repeatedly expressed solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, describing conditions there as "unacceptable" amid the ongoing Israeli genocide that began in October 2023 and has also spoken out against the US-Israeli war on Iran.

"Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a nuclear bomb is absolutely unacceptable," Trump said.

In Italy, Meloni as well as opposition figures have strongly criticized Trump's remarks.

Elly Schlein, secretary of the Democratic Party, said there was "firm condemnation for the attack by President Donald Trump on Meloni for having dutifully expressed solidarity with Pope Leo."

"We are adversaries in this chamber, but all Italian citizens, and we will not accept attacks or threats against the government and our country," she added.

Though the current pope is American, the Vatican's presence as a microstate in the heart of Rome and Catholicism as Italy's predominant faith make any attack on the pope almost seem like an attack on Italy itself.