Scorched by sycophancy

Just months ago, US President Donald Trump was heaping praise on his favourite European leader, Giorgia Meloni. Trump told Meloni, “You truly are beautiful”. He called her “a great leader”. “She’s a fantastic woman and has taken Europe by storm,” Trump commented when he welcomed Meloni at the White House only last year. But now Trump just won’t stop insulting and humiliating his former “great friend”.

After the recent G7 summit in France, Trump mocked Meloni, claiming that “she begged me to take a picture with her. She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her”.

Meloni retaliated swiftly. She felt Trump’s words deserved an immediate response. She uploaded a short video stating that she was shocked and stunned by the US president’s complete fabrication. Meloni was surprised that Donald Trump was lying about her. That speaks volumes about Giorgia Meloni’s poor judgment of character.

Everybody knows Trump is a pathological liar. He breathes lies. The Washington Post Fact Checker counted 30,573 false or misleading claims during Trump’s first presidency, between 2017 and 2021. In just the first 100 days of his second presidency, The Washington Post counted 492 false or misleading claims. The fact-checkers have lost count. Yet Meloni claims she’s stunned because the greatest liar ever to occupy the White House is now lying about her too.

Meloni thought she could keep Trump onside. She was the only European leader, apart from the maverick Viktor Orbán, willing to embrace the role of Trump’s natural European ally. She was the sole European Union leader to attend his inauguration, which our own Ian Borg also attended. She was warmly welcomed at the White House and showered with praise by the American president. She thought she had Trump wrapped around her little finger. She’s now learning the hard way that ingratiation and appeasement never work. She’s quickly discovered that cosying up to an erratic, immature, self-obsessed boor will always backfire.

Meloni is surprised that Trump is contemptuous and disrespectful towards her. In her video clip, she commented: “I don’t know why the president of the US behaves this way with his own allies.”

Because he is an emotionally incontinent narcissist. This is a man who has repeatedly shown utter contempt not only for his enemies and adversaries but also for his closest allies. He has used his power to persecute former colleagues such as John Bolton, who was his national security adviser. Trump called his ardent supporter and first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, “mentally retarded”. As the crowd chanted “hang Mike Pence”, Trump kept inciting it against his loyal vice president. William Barr was one of Trump’s strongest defenders, yet when Barr stated that there was no evidence of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, Trump called him “weak” and “gutless”. Michael Cohen famously claimed he would “take a bullet” for Trump. Yet when Cohen did his duty and cooperated with prosecutors, Trump called him “a rat”, “a liar” and “weak”.

Yet Meloni cannot understand why Trump behaves this way with his allies. Maybe it’s because people like Meloni have been sucking up to Trump, appeasing him and condoning his deplorable behaviour. Meloni treated Trump’s outrageous behaviour and inappropriate comments as though nothing was wrong. Her sidling up to Trump, despite his offensive bullying, open hostility and incivility, helped normalise his behaviour. Meloni bears responsibility for allowing Trump to get away with his insolence and vitriol. Now that she is bearing the brunt of his capricious contempt, she is starting to recognise the dangers of appeasement.

“It’s a pity he doesn’t show the same determination with enemies of the West, with enemies of the United States, with leaders with whom instead he is far more accommodating,” she added.

That’s typical of the bully: he’ll badger the weak, the sycophants and the bootlickers, but treat ruthless dictators with deference, respect and admiration.

If Meloni expected Trump to back off after her tongue-lashing, she’s even more naive than anybody imagined. Trump quickly doubled down on his claims. “Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G7 meeting in France,” he wrote on social media. He claimed Meloni’s popularity was plummeting, suggesting it was the result of her failure to help the US in the Iran war.

Meloni reacted. “President Trump, these constant and gratuitous unprovoked attacks are senseless,” she wrote on Facebook. “As for my popularity, being your friend has certainly not helped it, nor does it depend on my relationship with you,” she added. Meloni had finally realised that the only way to treat a bully is to set clear boundaries and stop sucking up to him: “My popularity is none of your concern — I suggest you focus on your own.”

Of course, Meloni’s attempts to distance herself from Trump may be driven by the president’s huge unpopularity in Italy. Eighty per cent of Italians view Trump’s handling of the Iran conflict negatively. Just 12% of Italians have a favourable view of the US president. And Meloni has an election coming up soon. Aligning too closely with the increasingly unpopular Trump is political suicide, as Viktor Orbán’s recent bitter experience has shown.

Meloni’s rebuke of Trump’s false claims about her was backed up by some real action. Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, cancelled a planned visit to the United States over Trump’s mocking of Meloni. “The grave and offensive words of President Trump … offend the whole of Italy,” Tajani wrote on X.

It’s high time other European leaders, and leaders around the world, took a firm stand and stopped tiptoeing around Trump. His outrageous behaviour deserves public condemnation. Each and every one of his offensive statements, his dangerous decisions, his abuse of power and his flagrant breaches of international law should be denounced. Calling Trump “daddy”, showering him with praise, rewarding him with fake peace awards and nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize will not make him behave better. Trying to befriend him even as he humiliates, mocks and kidnaps others won’t save you, as Meloni has discovered.

European history should have taught Meloni one important lesson: appeasement never works. You don’t stand up to a bully by bending over. And you certainly don’t collaborate with dangerous demagogues.