US President Donald Trump sharply criticised Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday, saying she lacked "courage" for declining to join American military operations against Iran. "I'm shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong," Trump told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, adding that Meloni "doesn't want to help us in the war" and accusing her of indifference to Iran potentially acquiring nuclear weapons. The outburst marks a dramatic rupture between two leaders who had long been close allies, coming just days after Meloni called Trump's attacks on Pope Leo XIV — himself a vocal critic of the Middle East conflict — "unacceptable"; Italy has also moved to suspend its automatic defence cooperation agreement with Israel amid the escalating regional crisis.