Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani says that while Rome values its ties with Washington, those ties are built on “loyalty, respect, and mutual frankness”.

The statement, posted on X, comes after US President Donald Trump said he thought Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni “had the courage” to help the US with its military operations in Iran.

“We are used to saying what we think, because that is what serious people do. Until now, President Trump considered Giorgia Meloni a courageous person. He was not mistaken, because she is a woman who never gives up saying what she thinks,” Tajani says.

He adds that Meloni said “what all of us Italian citizens think” in relation to Pope Leo XIV, against whom Trump has issued scathing remarks this week.

“The Prime Minister, together with the Government, defend and will always defend only the interests of Italy,” Tajani says.