Italy’s Meloni let Trump’s jibes slide for so long. Now, she’s hitting back

US Donald Trump has sparred with most of his fellow Group of Seven leaders at some point. But Italy’s Giorgia Meloni this week did something none of them dared: she escalated.

Unlike Spanish Socialist Pedro Sanchez, one of the few leaders in Europe who has made political capital of being berated by Trump, the Italian prime minister had stood out as one of the few Europeans he actually liked: an outspoken conservative at ease talking Maga. But Meloni has also transitioned from a populist politician to a practical one.

When last year Trump repeatedly praised her looks – saying, “You don’t mind being called beautiful, right? You are” – and others objected to the objectification, she let it slide. Which is why her decision to respond in kind to his provocations with some of her own is out of step with how most of her cohort have chosen to handle Trump’s broadsides.

In the past 24 hours, the person who Trump once praised for taking “Europe by storm” has done three things that some US allies may have thought privately, but never said publicly. She said he lies and panders to enemies while turning on his friends. She also poked him by telling him to look at his own polling as the November midterms approach, no doubt aware that his popularity has hit new lows.

The backdrop for the schism – and why it is not your average kerfuffle – is important. It came, somewhat unprompted, on the heels of an otherwise jolly G7 gathering where many leaders set aside their reservations about the peace deal Trump was about to sign with Iran. Trump left the G7, a group he has been critical of in the past, describing it as “one of the most successful”.

The G7 is a bloc consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The EU is also represented within the G7.