US President Donald Trump has accused Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Malone of allegedly being unwilling to support America's war against Iran and unblocking the Strait of Hormuz.
Donald Trump stated this in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
Trump said he was “wrong” about Maloney.
“Italy doesn't want to get involved. Even though Italy gets its oil from there, even though America is very important to Italy, they don't think Italy should get involved. They think America should do the job for them,” Trump said.
Trump said he did not speak to Maloney about US assistance in the war against Iran “through NATO.”
“Because she doesn't want to help us with NATO, she doesn't want to help us get rid of nuclear weapons. That's not what I thought at all,” Trump said.
When asked if he had asked Italy to use minesweepers in the Strait of Hormuz, the US president replied: “I asked them to send whatever they want, but they don't want to because NATO is a paper tiger.”
US President Donald Trump has already accused European NATO members of refusing to support the US-Israeli war against Iran. He has said he is considering withdrawing the US from NATO because the bloc's European members have refused to join the military operation against Iran.