Italian PM condemns ally Trump over 'unacceptable' Pope criticism

Donald Trump's remarks about Pope Leo XIV were "unacceptable", Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said. The US president accused the pontiff of being "WEAK on Crime and terrible for Foreign Policy" in a long Truth Social post, later telling reporters he was "not a big fan". "The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and no...

Donald Trump's remarks about Pope Leo XIV were "unacceptable", Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said.

The US president accused the pontiff of being "WEAK on Crime and terrible for Foreign Policy" in a long Truth Social post, later telling reporters he was "not a big fan".

"The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal for him to call for peace and to condemn every form of war," Meloni said in a statement.

Meloni, who is a Catholic and heads a right-wing coalition government, is a close ally of Trump and had so far been reluctant to condemn the US president's harsh criticism of Pope Leo.