President Donald Trump is in the middle of yet another high-profile feud with a world leader he once publicly praised. This time, his target is someone he used to call a trusted ally on the global stage. The honeymoon, as readers across the internet quickly pointed out, is officially over.
In previous interactions, Trump, 79, has been very friendly with lawmakers and prime ministers who, despite their kind remarks at podiums, have often looked repulsed or disgusted by him. But Trump never misses an opportunity to turn vicious the moment someone dares to defy him.
Trump has now turned on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of his closest European allies, after she openly chastised him in front of the world. The trouble started when Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself appearing as Jesus Christ on Truth Social, drawing outrage from religious leaders and lawmakers across the globe, including Pope Leo XIV.
Meloni, 49, took clear issue with Trump’s repeated attacks on the Chicago-born pontiff. The Pope had said that the “delusion of omnipotence” was fueling America’s military conflict with Iran. Meloni called Trump’s verbal assault on the Pope directly “unacceptable.”
She went further in her defense of Pope Leo. According to EuroNews, Meloni stated, “The pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal for him to call for peace and to condemn all forms of war.”
Trump fired back fast. During a phone interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on April 14, he attacked Meloni’s position on Iran and suggested Italy was being too soft on the Iranian government.
“It’s [she] who’s unacceptable because she doesn’t mind that Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if they had the chance,” Trump told the Italian daily.
He then questioned whether Meloni even had the support of her own people. “Do Italians like the fact that your prime minister isn’t giving us any help to get oil?” he asked. “Do people like her? I can’t imagine.”
Trump added, “I’m shocked by her. I thought she was brave, but I was wrong. She’s no longer the same person, and Italy will never be the same country again. Immigration is killing Italy and all of Europe.” It was a brutal public attack on a sitting leader of a fellow NATO ally.
Yahoo News readers reacted quickly. One commenter declared, “America will have no friends left by the time the Orange [man] is done.”
“He demands absolute loyalty but offers none to others. And it’s pretty clear by now that he hates women,” posted a second Trump critic in defense of Meloni.
One reader theorized, “Trump thinks he is God’s representative on earth and that the Pope is trying to steal Trump’s glory.” Another added, “It’s disgusting that such a vile, incompetent, revengeful individual reached this level of authority. But what’s much more disturbing are the people who put him there.”
Many sided firmly with Meloni. “I love it when a woman in power stands up to him,” one person wrote. Another closed it simply: “Well, that honeymoon is over now. Good for you, Prime Minister.”
Trump had been openly supportive of Meloni for months, but the cracks were forming long before this week. A moment at the October 13 summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt had already gone quietly viral and foreshadowed exactly where things were heading.
Meloni doesn't exactly looked thrilled as Trump calls her "beautiful" pic.twitter.com/qfE3ooKN2I
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 13, 2025
Trump and Meloni had both traveled to Sharm El-Sheikh along with other world leaders to discuss the ongoing Israel-Gaza war, a conflict that has continued since October 2023. The gathering was meant to be a serious diplomatic effort focused on ending the bloodshed in the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip.
Instead, Trump got distracted by Meloni’s physical appearance on stage. Standing in front of her and their peers, he singled her out in front of the entire room.
“We have a woman, a young woman, who’s a… I’m not allowed to say it, because usually it’s the end of your political career if you say she’s a beautiful young woman,” Trump expressed in his speech at the summit, referring directly to Meloni.
He then turned toward her and asked in front of everyone present, “You don’t mind being called beautiful, right? Because you are.” Meloni’s expression in the viral clip said everything her words did not. She did not look pleased.
Trump’s actions on the world stage, including publicly attacking Pope Leo XIV and humiliating a sitting European prime minister, have put him at odds with not only foreign statesmen and stateswomen but also with everyday American citizens who are watching the relationships their country depends on fall apart one by one.
