“Meloni is a pragmatist,” said Julien Hoez, editor of the French Dispatch and a political analyst.
“There are various reasons she has decided to take on Trump — because he is unpopular in Italy, because Italians are reeling under high energy prices, because she wants to recover from the loss she faced in the referendum, and because GDP growth appears to be stagnating.
“However, with the controversy between Trump and the pope, she has an opening for a great win by defending the Catholic leader who resides within Italy.”
Hoez said the EU, too, could stand to gain from Meloni’s fallout with Trump. “For the EU it means that Trump has less options to undermine their unity at the EU level,” he said.