U.S. Ambassador to Italy: Trump Has ‘No Personal Problem’ With Meloni

Tilman Fertitta says the president’s clashes with Italy’s prime minister also reflect his frustrations over the role of NATO allies

Trump has no personal problem with Meloni, according to Tilman Fertitta, the U.S. ambassador to Italy, who offered his reading of the growing tensions between President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in an interview with The Washington Post.

Fertitta said Trump may also be using his exchanges with Meloni to express his frustrations over the role of U.S. allies in NATO. Describing his own approach to dealing with the president, the ambassador said: “If he’s not giving you a hard time, then you’re not important enough to get his time.”

Fertitta recalled the period when Trump and Meloni were particularly close, pointing to a dinner at Mar-a-Lago that he attended with both leaders. “They got along,” he said. According to The Washington Post, the relationship later became strained, particularly after Italy declined to support the war against Iran.

The ambassador said he had urged Italian counterparts not to escalate the public dispute with Trump.

“What I said is: ‘You don’t want to get into a verbal volleyball game with Donald Trump,’ because he’s tireless and eventually he’ll win,” Fertitta said. “Donald Trump is a fascinating person and you just have to know… how politicians around the world have to deal with him.”

In the portrait drawn by The Washington Post, Fertitta has become a central figure in American diplomacy in Italy, helped by his personal relationship with Trump and his considerable wealth. The Texas billionaire, who owns the Houston Rockets, arrived in Rome with an approach markedly different from that of traditional career diplomats, including the use of his 383-foot mega-yacht, the Boardwalk, for an extended tour along the Italian coast.

Aboard the yacht, valued at about $450 million, Fertitta hosted Italian politicians, local officials, business leaders, military personnel and sports figures. According to the newspaper, the two-and-a-half-month tour was partly organized to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States and partly to avoid renovation work underway at Villa Taverna. The trip cost him about $1 million out of his own pocket, according to The Washington Post.

The ambassador defended his approach and the value of his network of relationships.

“You have an ambassador who has money, and Italians like it,” he told the newspaper. “They like knowing they’re important enough to us that you come to their city with your big boat, pay homage to them and welcome them into your home. That’s what I hear from people.”

His style has also drawn criticism. In Venice, during one of the Boardwalk’s stops, several hundred protesters demonstrated against the yacht’s presence.

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, quoted by The Washington Post, highlighted the importance of Fertitta’s personal relationship with the American president.

“From our perspective, his main advantage is that he loves Italy and feels a deep connection with our country,” Crosetto said. “The other advantage is that Trump respects him. He is one of the few people who can call him and talk to him for half an hour about anything.”

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