US President Donald Trump has sharpened his criticism of key European partners over their refusal to support America's military campaign against Iran, threatening to unwind a trade agreement with the United Kingdom and publicly denouncing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — until recently one of his closest allies on the continent — for lacking "courage."

In a candid phone interview with Sky News, Trump declared that the so-called special relationship between Washington and London was in a "sad state," warning that the trade deal struck with Britain last May — which reduced US tariffs on British cars, aluminium and steel — was "better than I had to" give and "can always be changed." The remarks came as senior British officials voiced mounting anger over the economic fallout from the Iran conflict. Chancellor Rachel Reeves, attending International Monetary Fund spring meetings in Washington, described herself as "frustrated and angry" that the US had launched strikes without clear objectives, while Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the conflict was pushing up energy bills. The IMF has already cut Britain's growth forecast as a result of the fighting and warned of a potential global recession.

Separately, in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Trump directed unusually personal criticism at Meloni, Italy's conservative prime minister since 2022, who has long positioned herself as a bridge between Washington and a sceptical Europe. "I'm shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong," Trump said, adding that Meloni had failed to support US efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. The remarks came a day after Meloni publicly condemned Trump's attacks on Pope Leo XIV — the newly elected pontiff who has repeatedly called for an end to US military intervention in Iran — describing them as "unacceptable." Trump also called NATO a "paper tiger" and accused European nations broadly of refusing to fight for the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway through which much of Europe's energy supply flows.

The backlash in Rome was swift and united across party lines. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani defended Meloni as someone who "never shies away from saying what she thinks," while centre-left opposition leader Elly Schlein invoked Italy's constitution, which explicitly repudiates war, in condemning what she called Trump's "serious lack of respect."

The diplomatic turbulence underscores a deepening rift between the United States and its traditional European partners. Starmer has responded by accelerating outreach to the European Union, arguing that closer ties with the bloc are "simply too big to ignore" given American unpredictability. With the IMF meetings now dominated by fears of a Gulf-driven global downturn, European governments face the difficult task of managing economic damage from a war they neither endorsed nor joined.