While US President Donald Trump has aimed most of his guns and rockets at Iran, but his verbal salvos have been reserved for his Nato allies in Europe.
His latest victim is Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after she fired off her own broadside at Trump following the US president’s attack on Pope Leo XIV.
After Trump launched his attack on the Pope, Meloni rallied to the pontiff’s defence, saying, “I find President Trump’s remarks about the Holy Father unacceptable”.
The New York Times reported Trump, clearly jilted, lashed out at Meloni, saying in an interview with an Italian newspaper on Tuesday that he hadn’t talked to her “in a long time,” was vexed by her lack of participation in the war in Iran and was “shocked by her,” adding, “I thought she was brave, but I was wrong.”
He responded to her “unacceptable” criticism by snapping, “She’s the one who’s unacceptable.” On Wednesday, he added in a television interview that with Italy, “we do not have the same relationship”, the paper reported.
His verbal fusillades have also been directed at other European leaders, especially after the US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran on February 28 without consulting his Nato allies.
Pedro Sanchez – Trump threatened to impose a full trade embargo on Spain in response to its refusal to allow the US to use the jointly run bases at Morón and Rotafor to strike Iran. “Spain has been terrible,” Trump said during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday. “We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain,” he added.
Emmanuel Macron – As he held an easter lunch event at the White House, US President Donald Trump mocked French President Emmanuel Macron once again. “I called up France, Macron, whose wife treats him extremely badly and he’s still recovering from the right to the jaw,” Trump said.
Keir Starmer – Speaking to journalists in the Oval Office, Trump said he was “not happy with the UK” over the decision, that led to US planes “flying many extra hours”. 20 January – ‘an act of great stupidity’
Mr Trump’s criticisms of the prime minister about the conflict started before the war even began on 28 February.
The president launched an unprovoked attack on the UK government’s deal to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, because he wanted to use the joint UK-US base on the island of Diego Garcia, to launch attacks on Iran.
Writing on Truth Social, Mr Trump warned Sir Keir was giving away the Chagos Islands “FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER”, in an “act of total weakness”, and a further “act of GREAT STUPIDITY”. 16 March – ‘the Rolls-Royce of allies’
Mr Trump repeated his attacks on the UK, this time saying he asked the PM to send ships and that Sir Keir said “he really didn’t want to do it”.
The president continued: “I said ‘You don’t want to do it? We’ve been with you. You’re our oldest ally and we spend a lot of money on NATO and all of these things to protect you’. I think it’s terrible. I was very surprised.”He also said he was “not happy” with the UK, a nation – he said – that was once considered “the Rolls-Royce of allies”.
Mark Rutte – Donald Trump has again attacked Nato for not supporting the US in the Iran war, following a private meeting with its Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House.
In a post shared to Truth Social after the meeting, the US President said: “NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN.”
Trump – following his meeting with Rutte – also appeared to revive his threat to seize Greenland from NATO member Denmark – a move had roiled the alliance before he launched his war on Iran
“Remember Greenland, that big, poorly run, piece of ice!!!”, he wrote.
Pope Leo XIV – “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” the president wrote in his post, adding: “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.” He repeated that sentiment in comments to reporters, saying: “We don’t like a pope who says it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon.”
Later, he posted a clearly AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure, appearing to “cure” a man. He deleted it after a backlash from some of his religious supporters.