U.S. President Donald Trump has sparred with most of his fellow Group of Seven leaders at some point. But Italy¡¯s Giorgia Meloni last week did something none of them dared: She escalated.
Unlike Spanish Socialist Pedro Sanchez, one of the few leaders in Europe who has made political capital of being berated by Trump, the Italian prime minister had stood out as one of the few Europeans he actually liked: an outspoken conservative at ease talking MAGA. But Meloni has also transitioned from a populist politician to a practical one.
When Trump repeatedly praised her looks last year?¡ª saying, ¡°You don¡¯t mind being called beautiful, right? You are¡± ¡ª and others objected to the objectification, she let it slide. Which is why her decision to respond in kind to his provocations with some of her own is out of step with how most of her cohort have chosen to handle Trump¡¯s broadsides.
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