ROME, April 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump told an Italian newspaper on Tuesday he was "shocked" by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and had expected her to be more courageous, delivering a blunt public rebuke to one of his closest European allies.
Meloni had been a vociferous supporter of Trump, but she has criticised his decision to go to war with Iran, and on Monday, denounced his weekend criticism of Pope Leo as "unacceptable".
Trump responded in an interview with Corriere della Sera, saying Meloni was "very different from what I thought" and denouncing her for refusing to help re-open the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blocked by Iran.
"I'm shocked by her. I thought she had courage. I was wrong," he is quoted as saying in the Italian-language article posted online.
The White House declined to comment on the reported quotes. Meloni's office also declined to comment.
The criticism marks a dramatic change in tone toward Meloni, who was the only European leader to attend the president's inauguration in 2025.
Only last month he told Corriere della Sera that Meloni was "a great leader", but on Tuesday he accused her of failing to back U.S. efforts over energy security and Iran, and said Italy wanted America "to do the job for her."
Asked about her condemnation of his comments on Pope Leo, he said: "She is the one who is unacceptable, because she does not care whether Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow Italy up in two minutes if it had the chance."
Meloni had hoped that her close relationship with the U.S. president would strengthen her standing at home and abroad, but instead it risks becoming a political liability.
Some 66% of Italians now hold a negative view of the U.S. leader and pollsters say Meloni's ties to the White House may have contributed to her defeat last month in a referendum on judicial reform.
The war in Iran has pushed up energy prices in Italy, which is heavily dependent on oil and gas imports.
"They (Italy) pay the highest energy costs in the world and are not even ready to fight for the Strait of Hormuz... They depend on Donald Trump to keep it open," Trump said.
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer, additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; Editing by Ros Russell)
