ROME — It was a spotlight moment for Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to defend her warm ties to President Donald Trump. “Senator Calenda, frankly, I don’t consider your assessments of President Trump far-fetched,” she said. “This war is very unpopular.”Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, a center-left socialist, has made headlines by standing up to the Trump administration on the war in Iran. “Nothing has changed in the relationship between Italy and the U.S., Meloni and Trump,” Procaccini said. The optics of a Meloni-Trump friendship played mostly well here — an example of how Italy’s first female prime minister, and its most stable since Berlusconi, was elevating Italy’s stature and importance.

Source: Washington Post March 13, 2026 13:08 UTC