Trump’s friendship, once an asset, becomes a liability for Italy’s Meloni

ROME — It was a spotlight moment for Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to defend her warm ties to President Donald Trump. On the floor of the Italian Senate, she listened to an opposition lawmaker challenge her links to an American leader who, in his words, had brought “destruction” to the Middle East, aligned with the Russians, and sought the unraveling of Europe and NATO.