{"id":4731,"date":"2026-07-02T09:07:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T09:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=4731"},"modified":"2026-07-02T09:07:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T09:07:05","slug":"facing-barbs-and-pressure-from-trump-europes-leaders-close-ranks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=4731","title":{"rendered":"Facing barbs and pressure from Trump, Europe\u2019s leaders close ranks"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

ROME (AP) \u2014 U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s attacks on Italy\u2019s premier have had an unintended consequence.<\/p>\n

Read more Russia waged a drone campaign in Europe and likely launched drones from shadow ships, report says<\/a><\/p>\n

After Trump questioned Italy\u2019s reliability as a wartime ally and claimed Giorgia Meloni had groveled for his attention, European leaders rallied to Meloni\u2019s side, thawing what had been a frosty relationship over her hard-right political roots.<\/p>\n

It is the latest example of how the often divisive American president is helping to draw Europe closer together.<\/p>\n

European leaders are finding more reasons to coordinate on defense, tariffs and foreign policy as they confront wars in Ukraine and Iran, a ballooning trade deficit with China, and threats from Russia. That leaves Trump, who has often preferred to negotiate with European countries individually, with less ability to do so, analysts say.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the mainstream leaders realize that Europe is getting squeezed between China and America, and so, if not now, then when?\u201d said Sudha David-Wilp, vice president at the German Marshall Fund. \u201cThey need to act as a bloc in order to maintain Europe\u2019s place in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

This newfound European unity could be tested next week at a NATO summit in Turkey.<\/p>\n

European leaders rally around Meloni<\/h3>\n

Meloni\u2019s spat with Trump has helped her strengthen ties with European leaders once wary of her party\u2019s post-fascist roots.<\/p>\n

A pivotal moment came in March when she wouldn\u2019t allow U.S. bombers headed to the Middle East to use a base in Sicily without parliamentary approval.<\/p>\n

For years before then, France and Germany often kept Meloni outside the small-group talks that helped shape Europe\u2019s response to major foreign policy crises. That persisted into 2026 amid disagreements over the Russian war on Ukraine, including Meloni\u2019s rejection of a proposal by Britain and France to send European troops there following a possible ceasefire. <\/p>\n

But Trump\u2019s escalating attacks on Meloni \u2014 who called Trump\u2019s criticism of Pope Leo \u201cunacceptable\u201d \u2014 helped shift the dynamic, prompting European leaders to rally around her.<\/p>\n

After all, they, too, have been on the receiving end of Trump\u2019s barbs. <\/p>\n

Meloni was firmly in the fold at a late June meeting in Berlin with the leaders of Germany, France, Britain and Poland. And she met the next day with French President Emmanuel Macron in southern France \u2014 the first bilateral summit since the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Europe\u2019s nationalist parties are adjusting<\/h3>\n

Even nationalist parties across the continent once aligned with Trump are recalibrating their stances because his trade policies and war with Iran are proving unpopular with voters. <\/p>\n

In France, far-right leader Jordan Bardella recently blasted U.S. actions as \u201cforeign interference\u201d and described Trump as \u201cerratic\u201d and \u201cextremely unsteady.\u201d Bardella had previously welcomed Trump\u2019s brand of nationalism as a \u201cwind of freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Germany, leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany party have criticized the U.S. military campaign against Iran. The co-leader of the party, Tino Chrupalla, said in March he was \u201cextremely disappointed\u201d with Trump, whom he had viewed as a politician who would avoid new conflicts.<\/p>\n

The changing rhetoric comes as elections approach, putting more focus on domestic issues. <\/p>\n

Read more Heat alerts issued for central NC as dangerous temperatures move in<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis pushes everyone to consider a European horizon more than an international one,\u201d said Lorenzo Castellani, a political analyst and professor at Rome\u2019s LUISS University,<\/p>\n

Beyond Europe\u2019s biggest powers<\/h3>\n

These dynamics are playing out beyond the European Union, from the Arctic Ocean to the Balkans.<\/p>\n

When Trump threatened to take Greenland by force, protests erupted in its capital, Nuuk, and in the Danish capital of Copenhagen. Leaders across the political spectrum bristled at the threatened infringement of European sovereignty and feared it could shatter the already stressed NATO military alliance.<\/p>\n

In Albania, a luxury development being planned that is linked to Trump\u2019s family business has become a major political issue, drawing protests in June. <\/p>\n

The political risks of close alignment with Trump were perhaps most clearly illustrated in Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n \u2014 long regarded as Trump\u2019s closest ally in the European Union \u2014 was voted out of office in April despite support from the U.S. president and prominent figures in the MAGA movement.<\/p>\n

An analysis by the consultancy Maplecroft suggested that negative perceptions of the Trump administration may have weighed on Orb\u00e1n politically.<\/p>\n

Meloni\u2019s balancing act<\/h3>\n

Though Meloni remains closely aligned with Trump on issues like immigration and security, she has long diverged from him on Ukraine. Her steadfast support for Kyiv has strengthened Italy\u2019s ties with European allies and has become a key factor in their increasingly united front toward the U.S.<\/p>\n

During their public spat last month, Meloni said her friendship with Trump came with a heavy political cost.<\/p>\n

In her response to his accusation that she had \u201cbegged\u201d to be photographed with him while at the recent G7 summit in France, she wrote on social media: \u201cAs for my popularity, being your friend has certainly not helped it, nor does it depend on my relationship with you.\u201d <\/p>\n

A recent Pew Research Center survey found that Trump is deeply unpopular in Italy. According to the survey, the vast majority of Italians \u2014 83% \u2014 have no confidence in Trump\u2019s ability to do the right thing regarding foreign affairs. His handling of a range of issues \u2014 including Iran, tariffs, and U.S. immigration policies \u2014 received a low level of support.<\/p>\n

With a national election due by 2027 \u2014 and possibly as early as next spring \u2014 Meloni faces mounting political pressures, including fallout from the unpopular Iran war and her former ties to Trump. <\/p>\n

Voters across Europe could hold their own politicians accountable for the actions of an American president beyond their control, said Castellani, the political analyst.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a certain point, when voters see the price of gasoline rising because of a war perceived as distant, they ask Meloni for the bill, not Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/h3>\n

McNeil reported from Brussels. AP writers Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Geir Moulson in Berlin, and Justin Spike in Budapest, contributed to this report. <\/p>\n

Read more Canes top prospect Cerrato healthy, looking ahead<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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