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Trump says Meloni ‘wants to be friends again’ after Italy refused to help US amid Iran war

Trump says Meloni ‘wants to be friends again’ after Italy refused to help US amid Iran war

President Donald Trump once again mocked Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for allegedly asking him over and over again for a picture at the G7 Summit in France this week, before slamming her for not doing enough to support the U.S. war in Iran. “Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday morning, reiterating what he told an Italian outlet on Friday. Meloni told Reuters on Friday that Trump “completely made up” this claim and that she was “astonished.” “I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves like this towards his allies: it is not the first time, moreover,” she said. RUBIO MEETS MELONI AS TRUMP-POPE CLASH ESCALATES US STRAINS WITH KEY EUROPEAN ALLY In his social media post, Trump went on to criticize Meloni for failing to assist the U.S. when the war in Iran was in full swing several months ago. “She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy, when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon (But so did NATO, for that matter!),” he wrote. Trump added that he was frustrated with Meloni for not letting U.S. forces use Italy’s landing strips and runways, calling it “a great logistical inconvenience.” Italy denied the use of an air base in Sicily to U.S. warplanes that were carrying weapons that would be used in the campaign against Iran, The Guardian reported in March. Italy denied the use of an air base in Sicily to U.S. warplanes that were carrying weapons that would be used in the campaign against Iran, The Guardian reported in March. Trump routinely criticized other NATO allies in Europe, including the United Kingdom, Germany and France, for failures to provide what he viewed as substantive military support. Italy’s refusal to help, Trump wrote, is “despite the fact the U.S. contributes hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year to protect Italy, and other ‘so-called’ NATO Allies.” “Now, after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again in order to get her ‘numbers up.’ No thanks!!!” Trump concluded his post. MORE KEY US ALLIES BLOCK MILITARY FLIGHTS AS IRAN WAR RIFT WIDENS WITH TRUMP Late Saturday morning, Meloni posted a lengthy response to Trump’s post on Instagram, condemning him for his “senseless” and “constant” attacks on her. “As for my popularity, being your friend certainly has not helped it, nor does it depend on my relationship with you. My popularity depends on my ability to defend Italy’s national interest, and that is exactly what I have always done,” she wrote. “That is also what I did regarding the American military bases in Italy. Their use is governed by agreements that we have always respected, and that cannot be violated as long as I am Prime Minister.” She continued, “Italy remains a sovereign nation. In any case, my popularity is none of your concern. I suggest you focus on yours.” Trump once had strong ties to the Italian head of state, with Meloni being the only European Union leader who got an invite to his inauguration in January 2025, according to NPR. Like Trump, Meloni is a conservative who favors traditional family values and often pushes back against “woke” ideology. Cracks began to form in their relationship when Trump deployed his worldwide tariffs. Despite Meloni’s attempts to get trade relief for Italy, the U.S. still has a 15% tariff on most EU imports. In April, when Trump attacked Pope Leo for his foreign policy views on Iran, Meloni issued a rare public rebuke, calling the president’s comments “unacceptable.” IRAN ‘ALREADY AGREED’ TO GIVING UP NUCLEAR WEAPON AMBITIONS, TRUMP REVEALS Before the U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday that halts hostilities for 60 days, Meloni repeatedly insisted Italy would not join the war. “Italy is not participating and has no intention of participating,” Meloni told the Italian Senate in March. Still, Meloni has long been critical of Iran’s nuclear ambitions and has suggested restraining the regime through diplomatic means. “We all agree on the fact that Iran cannot equip itself with a nuclear weapon,” Meloni said at last year’s G7 Summit. “The goal we are all working towards is to have negotiations that will truly prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power.” The U.S.-Iran talks that were scheduled for Friday were temporarily postponed amid renewed fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terrorist group. Talks were later set too resume in Switzerland between the U.S. and Iranian delegations after Israel and Hezbollah reached a ceasefire. One of the key points of the MOU signed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian required an end to military operations across all fronts, including in Lebanon, as part of the broader conditions for the agreement to remain in effect.

Vance says ‘United States wins either way’ as he defends Trump’s Iran deal against GOP skeptics

Vance says ‘United States wins either way’ as he defends Trump’s Iran deal against GOP skeptics

Vice President JD Vance pushed back Saturday on criticism that the deal signed between President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian would hand Tehran economic benefits without requiring meaningful changes in the terror-sponsoring nation’s behavior. In a morning interview on “Fox & Friends,” Vance brushed aside concerns raised by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and other Republicans who say Iran could eventually use the memorandum of understanding’s economic incentives to rebuild its military and nuclear programs. The MOU is meant to serve as a framework for a long-term peace agreement. “I like Roger, he’s a friend of mine, but I think that he’s wrong on this,” Vance said. “What the MOU says is that if the Iranians behave over a long period of time, they could get some of the benefits of this bargain.” Critics on both sides of the aisle have charged that the agreement signed earlier this week misses key objectives for the United States, including the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear weapons capabilities and enriched uranium stockpiles, limits on its ballistic missile program and a requirement that Tehran end its support for regional proxy groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL ‘GIVING A LOT MORE TO GET A LOT LESS’ THAN OBAMA’S, SENATOR SAYS Wicker claimed that the 60-day ceasefire agreement set forth in the MOU undermines the United States’ victories in Operation Epic Fury “in ways that are completely out of step with the president’s goals.” “Specifically, the $300 billion fund for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran – though not funded by U.S. taxpayers – would make Iran’s payoff under President Obama’s 2015 deal look like a pittance by comparison,” Wicker said in a statement.  Wicker argued that easing sanctions on Iran while requiring Israel to cease military action against Hezbollah is misguided, given the group’s continued attacks on Israel’s northern border and its backing from Tehran. VANCE TOUTS DESTRUCTION OF IRANIAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM AS TRUMP ANNOUNCES ISRAEL-IRAN CEASEFIRE “The Iranian regime has not renounced its ultimate goal — ‘Death to America, Death to Israel,’” Wicker said. “The regime will invest every penny it receives to further that aim.” But Vance said critics have incorrectly assumed Iran would receive economic benefits regardless of its conduct. Sanctions relief and regional economic aid would only be considered after Iran demonstrates sustained compliance with the agreement and abandons efforts to advance its nuclear program, Vance said. “The United States has all the cards,” Vance said. “The [Strait of Hormuz is] now open, the Iranian military is now destroyed, the Iranians have committed to, of course, destroying that stockpile of the rich material, but we have a lot of economic pressure applied to the Iranians that we would be willing to relieve if they do what we need them to do.” Vance said the agreement is already delivering tangible results, citing the movement of 16 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz on Friday after the waterway reopened to commercial traffic. He said the administration is focused on ensuring Iran is permanently blocked from restoring its nuclear program. “We’re going to go after that enriched stockpile of uranium,” Vance said. “We’re going to try to reset the situation that we have, so that the Iranians don’t just have a destroyed nuclear program now, but so that we can say with some confidence, through a combination of inspections and verification, that they’re never going to be able to rebuild that program.” Vance also expressed confidence that a ceasefire between Iran and Israel would hold long enough for negotiations to continue. U.S. officials are preparing for talks involving Iranian, Qatari and Pakistani representatives, which could begin within days, according to Vance. “There’s a fork in the road here,” Vance said. “The United States wins either way, but I think that what ultimately happens from here is very much up to the Iranians.”

Trump says Iran missiles ‘aren’t the problem’ after White House made them central to war rationale

Trump says Iran missiles ‘aren’t the problem’ after White House made them central to war rationale

For months, senior Trump administration officials argued that Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal helped shield Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and was a key reason the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury attacks on the country.  Now, President Donald Trump is suggesting Iran having missiles may not be a problem at all. “If other countries have them, it’s a little bit unfair for them not to have some. If Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and they all have some, I would say that in relative proportion, I think it’s okay,” Trump said at the G7 international forum Wednesday. “Am I going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but (Iran) can’t have them? It doesn’t work that way.”  “Missiles aren’t the problem. They hurt a little location, but they don’t blow up the planet.” “The Gulf nations will address the nonnuclear issues, as we’ll be talking about the ballistic missiles,” the president added. “And we’ll talk, also, about the terrorist proxies that they have that — we don’t want that to happen.”  ISRAELI OFFICIALS REPORTEDLY WARN IRAN’S BALLISTIC MISSILES COULD TRIGGER SOLO MILITARY ACTION AGAINST TEHRAN Trump made the remarks while discussing whether Iran should be permitted to retain missile capabilities in a news conference at the G7 in Évian-les-Bains, France, just as details of the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran were being released.  The comments strike a much different tone than arguments repeatedly made by senior administration officials in recent months, who described Iran’s ballistic missile force as both a major threat to regional security and a protective shield for Iran’s nuclear program. “Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, and we will not allow Iran to hide behind the immunity of a massive short-term ballistic missile inventory, or the ability to make them or launch them,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in a press conference March 3. “What they are trying to do, and have been trying to do for a very long time, is build a conventional weapons capability as a shield to hide behind.” TRUMP VOWS TO HIT IRAN ‘VERY HARD’ AFTER OBLITERATING NEARLY ’90 PERCENT’ OF REGIME MISSILES Other senior officials repeatedly described degrading Iran’s missile capabilities as a central objective of Operation Epic Fury.  In remarks at the White House on March 2, days after the start of the operation, Trump said, “Our objectives are clear. First, we’re destroying Iran’s missile capabilities … and their capacity to produce brand new ones.” War Secretary Pete Hegseth later said March 4 the mission was “laser-focused” on obliterating Iran’s missiles and the facilities that produce them, while White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the same day one of the administration’s primary goals was to “destroy the regime’s deadly ballistic missiles and completely raze their missile industry to the ground.”   Rubio repeatedly returned to the theme throughout the operation, arguing that degrading Iran’s missile force was necessary to prevent Iran from using conventional military power as cover for a future nuclear weapons program. TRUMP SAYS US, ISRAEL SHATTERED IRANIAN MILITARY CAPABILITIES, PRESSES LEADERS TO SURRENDER: ‘CRY UNCLE’ “This is about very specific objectives,” Rubio told reporters March 30. “The President laid them out on the first night of the operation… Here they are — you should write them down. No. 1, the destruction of their air force. No. 2, the destruction of their navy. No. 3 the severe diminishing of their missile launching capability. And number four, the destruction of their factories so they can’t make more missiles and more drones to threaten us in the future. All of this so that they can never hide behind it to acquire a nuclear weapon. That was our objective from the beginning; that remains our objective now.”  Leavitt made similar comments the same day, saying the objectives of Operation Epic Fury included “destroying their ballistic missiles” and dismantling the infrastructure used to produce them while ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon. Trump’s remarks at the G7 also raised questions about the administration’s approach to Iran’s nuclear program, another issue that administration officials had previously described in far less flexible terms. Trump’s comments also come as the administration pursues a memorandum of understanding with Iran that leaves unresolved one of the central disputes in the nuclear negotiations: the future of Iran’s enrichment program. Under the framework agreement unveiled in recent days, the United States and Iran agreed to spend 60 days negotiating the fate of Iran’s nearly 900-pound stockpile of near-weapons-grade 60% enriched uranium and any future enrichment activities. Administration officials said the minimum outcome under discussion would involve down-blending the material under International Atomic Energy Agency supervision, while acknowledging that key details of a final agreement remain unsettled. Officials described Iran’s willingness to dilute its stockpile as a significant concession, but also acknowledged that the memorandum does not resolve whether Iran will ultimately be permitted to retain any enrichment capability. TRUMP REAFFIRMS HARD LINE ON IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL: ‘WILL NOT ALLOW ANY ENRICHMENT OF URANIUM’ Trump appeared to strike a more accommodating tone when discussing Iran’s access to nuclear power at the G7. “It is a little hard, though, when you say that somebody wants it, other people have it, other, adjoining states have it. And you’re not letting them have it for purposes of electricity and things like that,” Trump said. “It’s always a little tough. You have to use a little common sense.” The administration previously had drawn a much harder line on Iran’s nuclear program. Special envoy Steve Witkoff said the United States could not allow Iran to retain “even 1%” enrichment capability, while White House officials repeatedly described the end of Iranian enrichment as a red line. The White House referred back to Trump’s recent remarks on missiles when asked for additional comment. “ “We are going to let the President’s comments stand,” a State Department spokesperson said when asked for comment.   The Pentagon could not immediately be reached for comment. 

Top GOP group pumps $37M into fight on key issue dominating midterm races: ‘Much more to come’

Top GOP group pumps M into fight on key issue dominating midterm races: ‘Much more to come’

America Action Network (AAN), a conservative nonprofit advocacy group associated with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has surpassed $37 million in messaging on cost-of-living issues, according to its leadership. “The cost of living is the number one issue on the minds of working families right now. American Action Network invested $37 million, highlighting how conservative policies deliver real relief,” Chris Winkelman, AAN’s president, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. The renewed spending further solidifies affordability as a key issue that is expected to play a pivotal role in the 2026 midterms. While inflation has risen in recent months, AAN believes that Republicans can continue to press the affordability message as an effective way to reach voters and have highlighted the issue in several ads, narrowing in on the work Republicans have done through Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill. PENCE LAUNCHES GOP MESSAGING BLITZ ON ‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’ AHEAD OF MIDTERMS The group has been advancing messaging on the bill since it was passed in July of last year. “The American comeback is here. President Trump and House Republicans are delivering for the American people, keeping their promises and delivering the change they demanded. Giving working families the tax cut ever, cutting taxes on tips and overtime and strengthening our border,” an ad states. “It’s a new America,” the added continued. A recent Fox News poll shows 58 percent of voters view cost of living as their top economic worry, up from 50 percent of voters in Fox’s February poll. Democrats have also targeted affordability, pointing to President Donald Trump’s promises of lowering everyday costs that have run into hurdles amid the fallout of the war in Iran and higher gas prices. Inflation rose 4.2% in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — a data point House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has repeatedly pointed out. GAS SURGE TIED TO IRAN CONFLICT HITS SWING STATES, TESTING TRUMP’S LOW-PRICE PITCH “Inflation just hit a 3-year high, gas prices are out of control and life under Donald Trump is unaffordable,” Jeffries said in a recent post to X. Even so, AAN and other Republican groups have blasted Democrats for opposing relief measures included in the Big Beautiful Bill, noting that, if successful, their opposition would have likely led to widespread tax increases. That’s the view of Richard Hudson, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).  “House Democrats continue proving they’re out of touch with the concerns of everyday Americans. Republicans are focused on affordability, public safety, and securing the border, while Democrats remain captive to the far-left agenda that’s failing working families,” Hudson said. In one $3 million ad blitz in Florida, Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District and Washington State, AAN slammed Democrats in those areas. “Marie Gluesenkamp Perez must have a short memory. She clearly forgot about us when she voted for the largest tax hike in American history. Perez voted against giving more money to hardworking Washington families,” the ad states in one example. VULNERABLE DEMOCRATS HAMMERED WITH SCATHING AD HANDCUFFING THEM TO MAMDANI, JEFFRIES The group hinted that, even with the $37 million that’s already been spent, its efforts aren’t finished. “Keep an eye out — we have much more to come later this summer,” Winkelman said.