Disagreements between Meloni and Trump are unlikely to weaken the privileged alliance between Rome and Washington: the American military presence in Italy and contracts of Italian companies in the U.S. make the relationship too strategic to sever.
The announcement by the U.S. to withdraw 5,000 soldiers from Germany and the threats directed at Italy and Spain in the same vein, made last week, have raised doubts about the future of around 12,000 American troops stationed in Italy and prompted Giorgia Meloni to schedule a meeting with Marco Rubio for Friday, shortly after the U.S. Secretary of State's visit to the Vatican to see Pope Leo XIV on Thursday. The privileged relationship between the Italian Prime Minister and the U.S. President quickly cracked last month when Meloni called the accusations of 'weakness' directed at the Pontiff by Donald Trump unacceptable, while Trump accused her of 'lack of courage' for refusing to assist an ally in the war against Iran.
'Italy has always fulfilled its obligations under NATO,' the Prime Minister emphasized on Monday on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Armenia, 'and the reduction of U.S. presence will not be understood,' just as the decision to start a war in the Middle East did not find support.
The decision not to expand the use of the American base in Sigonella for offensive actions against Iran irritated Trump, but there are several reasons to believe that this diplomatic incident will not escalate into a rift between the two NATO allies and that Italy will continue to be one of the key partners of the White House in Europe.
