Rome – The diplomatic spat between Giorgia Meloni and Donald Trump continues to occupy Italy, but the prime minister is deliberately keeping a low profile. At a gathering of the Alpini, Italy’s historic mountain infantry unit, the head of government made a surprise appearance in Gemona, Friuli, and explained that she had needed „a little healthy national pride“—and if she couldn’t find it here, she didn’t know where else she would.
The appearance coincided with the 50th anniversary of the devastating 1976 earthquake that left Friuli in ruins. Surrounded by onlookers and people asking for selfies, Meloni used the occasion to project a sense of unity in the wake of the scandal.
Meloni and Trump: Rome Bets on Diplomacy
The source of the tension is sharp criticism from Washington. Trump expressed disappointment not only with Italy but with NATO as a whole: The U.S. had poured billions into the alliance, yet Rome had not been there when it mattered most. The background to this is Italy’s refusal to allow two American bombers to land at the Sigonella base in Sicily during military operations against Iran.
The government in Rome is now consistently pursuing a policy of de-escalation. The official line from Palazzo Chigi, the Prime Minister’s office, was not to respond further to the attacks. Meloni herself made it known that she would not revisit the issue because she continues to believe in the unity of the West. Observers view this silence as a calculated move: Rome and Washington share too many common interests and unresolved issues for a personal dispute to seriously damage the transatlantic alliance. The de-escalation is intended to take the conflict out of the headlines and back to the diplomatic level.
