Trump and Meloni's Temptation Island

In Italy on 25 June 2026, Italy rebutted remarks by NATO chief Mark Rutte about an alleged Italian role in US strikes on Iran. Italy rejected Rutte's praise, and Crosetto said Rutte's 'random words' risk international consequences. Corriere della Sera reported that Meloni called Rutte and voiced suspicions about Trump, saying 'This is a trap', and it wrote about the case of US flights from Italy. La Repubblica ran a piece titled 'Trump and Meloni's Temptation Island'.

Meloni said that without Italy and France the EU and the West would not be what they are, and that the two countries sometimes disagree but never have icy relations with Macron. Bloomberg reported that Italy and France balked at an EU proposal to ban former Russian soldiers. Separately, Italy's Giorgia Meloni recalled a 2023 India trip, saying 'You'd win a million votes in Delhi', and EurActiv asked whether her method could be copied in France.