Trump-Meloni Rift Escalates: ‘Restraining Order Needed,’ Says US President

Amid the US President Donald Trump-Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni imbroglio, the former on Sunday (US time) said that a 'restraining order' was 'needed' for the latter.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump posted a photograph with Meloni with the caption, "RESTRAINING ORDER NEEDED".

Earlier on June 22, Trump criticised NATO members and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for not joining efforts against what he described as Iran's "very serious Nuclear Threat," accusing allies of failing to support the United States despite decades of American security commitments.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump expressed frustration over the reluctance of some US allies to become directly involved in efforts aimed at countering Iran, particularly targeting the Italian Prime Minister, whose relationship with the US President has soured in recent days following their meeting at the 52nd G7 Summit in France.

The very public spat between both leaders, who were previously amiable, started as Trump said Meloni begged him for a photograph. Meloni, who never takes affront to her dignity, said, "Neither I nor Italy ever beg."

Why has Donald Trump targeted Giorgia Meloni and other European allies?

Ever since Trump took office, Europe has been pushed into throes of turmoil. He targeted traditional US allies, like French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Meloni being the latest entry to the list.

"She can be very kind and warm," said Carlo Fidanza, a politician with Meloni's Brothers of Italy party who has known her for decades told Wall Street Journal.

Meloni's bombastic politics and pragmatism helped her give Italy what her European peers are struggling with: a stable government.

Her Brothers of Italy party vouches for traditional family values, but she never fit neatly into a conservative mould.

She offered safer and more moderate pro-NATO, pro-American and fiscally prudent positions, explicitly rejecting her far-right past, The Wall Street Journal noted.

However, the world of geopolitics is complex, and Italy is still an American ally. "These relationships don't begin or end because of who happens to be in power at a particular moment," she had said earlier.

"We sometimes talk about foreign policy as if it were 'Temptation Island,'" she said, referencing a reality dating show. "Foreign policy is more complex than that," Meloni noted, as quoted by Wall Street Journal.

(With inputs from ANI)