On that score, some still stick to Trump whispering, like the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who before a show-and-tell display of flattery in the Oval Office told Fox News that Italy had allowed "500 US planes" to take off from bases as part of Operation Epic Fury.
We ask if the Italian prime minister lied about her refusal to actively take part in the campaign against Iran and, more broadly, about Meloni's tack towards the pro-EU mainstream – patching up sometimes testy relations with neighbour France and getting a red carpet welcome this Thursday from Emmanuel Macron at an overdue bilateral summit in the French Riviera town of Antibes.
Why the shift? Is it the end of the whole of the European far-right's MAGA envy? Remember that 2027 is an election year in both France and Italy.
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Piera Rocco, Riham Mahir, Charles Wente.
