Giorgia Meloni clung to her relationship with Trump – now it’s starting to look like a liability | Riccardo Alcaro

Emmanuel Macron welcomes Giorgia Meloni to the Élysée Palace in Paris, 17 April 2026. Photograph: Telmo Pinto/NurPhoto/ShutterstockView image in fullscreenEmmanuel Macron welcomes Giorgia Meloni to the Élysée Palace in Paris, 17 April 2026. Photograph: Telmo Pinto/NurPhoto/ShutterstockOpinionGiorgia MeloniGiorgia Meloni clung to her relationship with Trump – now it’s starting to look like a liabilityRiccardo AlcaroThe Italian PM has walked a tightrope between Europe and the US. But the Iran war – and Trump’s attacks on her – have changed everythingTue 28 Apr 2026 00.00 EDTLast modified on Tue 28 Apr 2026 00.02 EDTShareThe news last week that the Trump administration sounded out Fifa, world football’s governing body, about replacing Iran with Italy at this year’s World Cup jolted insiders and pundits on the beautiful game. It has also cast fresh light on the unusual and evolving relationship between Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni.In recent weeks, the Italian prime minister’s standing as the darling of the US right has been imperilled by an unexpected rift with the Oval Office. Trump dramatically distanced himself from his Italian ally over her refusal to join US attacks on Iran in an interview. “I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” the US president told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.The reported US approach to Fifa – since ruled out by Italian ministers – may have signalled a wish by Trump to mend fences with the Italian leader.Meloni’s relationship with Trump has never been primarily about policy. It has been grounded instead in politics, ideology and geopolitics – a triad that has defined both its strengths and its limits.Politically, Meloni has leveraged her proximity to Trump while maintaining pragmatic ties with EU leaders. This dual track has enhanced her international reputation as a responsible rightwing leader and a go-to figure in Europe. She has sought to present herself as someone capable of bridging worlds – aligned with the nationalist conservative wave emanating from Washington yet credible and constructive in the European mainstream.Ideologically, Meloni and Trump both subscribe to a civilisational vision of the west as a community of nations bound together by common history, religion and cultural – if not ethnic – homogeneity. Geopolitically, her approach stems from the conviction that, in an era of great upheaval and competition between powers, European countries still have a strategic imperative to remain close to the US regardless of who sits in the Oval Office. Adaptation, rather than complaint, has been Meloni’s guiding principle. This explains why she consistently refrained from confrontation every time Trump lashed out at Europe.The problem is that her proximity to Trump has yielded few tangible advantages for Italy – apart, perhaps, from some clemency on US imports of Italian pasta. Where Italy has conceded to Trump – on tariffs or higher defence spending – it has done so alongside the rest of Europe. Where it has resisted US pressure – on Ukraine or Greenland – it has done so through coordination with EU partners, not bilateral leverage with Washington.The war with Iran has laid bare the strategic limitations of this approach. Its economic consequences have been felt directly by Italians at the petrol pump. The war has also reinforced a broader perception among Italians that not only is Trump seeking to subordinate European allies but he is also making the international…

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