Alegi (Luiss): ”words about Meloni? Trump blames failures on others, but it’s not a rupture”

“Trump has a fairly simple psychological profile: he tends to exaggerate his successes, real or presumed, and to blame his failures on others. When there is something wrong, when there is criticism, he reacts badly”, observes the historian. In his opinion, the American president today finds himself facing a series of problems, starting with the “substantial failure” of the war with Iran, but also criticism of the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool, the lake in Washington which has already lost the “blue American flag” promised by the president. “In these situations, Trump reacts badly to stress and takes it out on those who are there. Giorgia Meloni has ended up in this type of psychology, a little adolescent and a little macho: the successes are mine and the faults belong to others.”

Alegi also recalls the words used by Trump on the alleged desire of the Italian prime minister to be photographed with him. “The argument he used, ‘she was interested, I allowed her to take the photo’, is a way of reaffirming his own importance. It’s like saying: even if I’m in trouble, there’s still a queue to have a photo taken with me.” An attitude which, according to the Luiss professor, is part of a constant in the American president’s political behavior: “The main interpretative category that Trump uses towards people is what he calls loyalty, but which we would call blind and total obedience”.

According to Alegi, the republican leader may have been burned by the lack of total alignment of his European allies with his positions, in particular those he considered his ideal interlocutors. “From Meloni, who has always been considered one of the European interlocutors closest to Trump, he probably expected a greater alignment. When he measured the loneliness that comes from unilateralism, he reacted by attributing the responsibility to the allies for not following him.” However, he warns, it would be wrong to read the episode as a real political rupture. “If there had been a real rupture, he probably wouldn’t even have taken the photo. Above all, I see an extremely unstable Trump at this stage.”

For the historian, the statements against Meloni therefore reflect “more the character of Trump than the true political substance”. Also because, he observes, the Prime Minister “has not made anti-Trump statements nor has she publicly attacked the agreement” reached with Iran. “If you want to argue with Italy, tell us who replaces you with,” says Alegi, underlining how the war in Iran has demonstrated how much Washington continues to need the support of allies.

Finally, the scholar invites us to place the episode in a broader historical perspective. “Behind the declarations and titles remain solid political relationships and a closeness built over decades of relations between Italy and the United States”, he observes, recalling that even in the past moments of strong tension – such as the Sigonella crisis – have not compromised the bond between the two countries. “As a historian, I am inclined to place these episodes in a long-term dimension. Every crisis has its explanation, and this largely arises from the president’s psychology. But I believe the substance of relations between Italy and the United States remains intact.” (by Valerio Sarsini Novak)