Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — once seen as one of Donald Trump’s closest allies in Europe — has spent recent weeks trading public jabs with the US president, marking a notable shift after years of close alignment.

The dispute started after Trump claimed Meloni had asked him for a photo at a G7 summit, a claim she publicly rejected. Trump followed up by criticizing Italy over its reluctance to grant the US full access to its military bases during the air campaign against Iran, and suggested Meloni’s popularity was slipping. Meloni responded pointedly, saying that being his friend certainly hadn’t helped her own poll numbers.

The rift matters beyond the personal back-and-forth: analysts see it as a blow to hopes of a unified transatlantic far-right alliance, and it may be pushing Meloni closer to Brussels rather than Washington — a notable pivot for a leader who once attended Trump’s inauguration as a guest of honor.

At home, Meloni also hit an unexpected snag this week: parliament rejected an amendment tied to her broader electoral reform package by a single vote in a secret ballot, a modest but symbolically stinging setback for a prime minister who has otherwise dominated Italian politics since 2022.

Political scientists in Rome describe Meloni as playing a long game regardless — positioning herself as indispensable to both the far-right and more centrist coalition partners ahead of future political maneuvering.