Italian PM condemns ally Trump over ‘unacceptable’ Pope criticism
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Giorgia Meloni has described Donald Trump’s comments about Pope Leo XIV as “unacceptable”.
The US president had accused the pontiff of being “WEAK on Crime and terrible for Foreign Policy” in a lengthy Truth Social post, later telling reporters he was “not a big fan”.
“The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal for him to call for peace and to condemn every form of war,” Meloni said in a statement.
Meloni, a practising Catholic who leads a right-wing coalition, is considered a close ally of Trump and had until now avoided publicly criticising his remarks about the Pope. Her stance has drawn criticism from opposition parties, who accused her of reacting too slowly.
Her coalition partner, Matteo Salvini, leader of the League party, also distanced himself from Trump’s comments, saying that “attacking the Pope… doesn’t seem like a useful or intelligent thing to do.”
Speaking to reporters while travelling to Algeria, the Pope declined to be drawn into a dispute with Trump, saying he preferred to focus on promoting peace.
Pope Leo has insisted he has “no fear” of the Trump administration and will continue speaking out against war, following the US president’s sharp criticism over his position on the Iran conflict. The pontiff has been openly critical of the war, describing Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilisation as “unacceptable” and urging him to find an “off-ramp” to end the crisis.
On Monday, Trump intensified his criticism, saying he would not apologise to the “very weak” Pope.
