Meloni and Trump: A very public fall-out that is proving very hard to fix

Last Wednesday, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte told Fox News that around 500 US aircraft had taken off from American bases in Italy in support of "Operation Epic Fury", the codename for the US-Israeli campaign against Iran. It was part of what he described as broader European support running into thousands of flights across the continent. Rome did not take it well. Italy's defence ministry called Rutte's account "fallacious" and "totally misleading", insisting it had only ever authorised technical and logistical flights, not combat operations, and had refused any request that crossed that line. A Nato spokesperson later clarified that Rutte had simply meant to highlight how allies, Italy included, had honoured existing bilateral basing agreements. Those remarks have stirred a political row in Italy where Meloni's government has repeatedly said it did not authorise the use of Italian territory for direct military action against Iran. For Meloni, who has had a difficult few months following her recent defeat in a constitutional referendum and faces an election in the coming year, some big questions remain. …