Old habits die hard. Trump has never hidden his male supremacist streak, and he once boasted that "real men" can touch women however they please. Becoming president changed nothing. He has now dragged that same ugly habit into diplomacy.
On July 5th, he showed his true colors again, posting an image on social media implying Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is infatuated with him, and sneering that a "restraining order" is needed to keep her away. A deeply insulting insinuation, and it marks his second public jab at her in recent weeks. He earlier claimed she begged him for a photo at the G7 summit like an obsessive fan. Meloni denied it flatly and fired back hard, triggering a diplomatic spat.
Trump posts Meloni photo: "Restraining order needed." Blatant insult.
Analysts see something more calculated at work here than a simple ego trip. Trump's insults are not just about satisfying a male supremacist mindset, they say. He appears to be using ridicule as a tool to assert dominance over female heads of state. Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi presents a striking contrast: she tolerates the same treatment, and even seems pleased with it.
Before departing for Turkey today for the NATO summit, Trump posted a photo on Truth Social showing Meloni looking up at him with what he framed as an adoring gaze. His caption read: "Restraining order needed." The image builds a false narrative, one where Meloni is portrayed as obsessively infatuated with him and needing legal intervention to stay away.
Crude by any diplomatic standard. A mix of suggestive language, condescension, and mockery. His team appears to have combed through countless photos of the two leaders, cropped and framed one fleeting moment, then dressed it up with provocative text to manufacture the illusion of Meloni's infatuation.
This is not the first time Trump has targeted her this way. After last month's G7 summit, he posted that Meloni "was probably happy I talked to her" and that "I wouldn’t have even done it, but I felt sorry for her." He went further, claiming she "begged me to take a picture with her". The remarks painted a head of government as an overzealous fan pestering him for attention.
Such flippant, degrading language is a serious affront when directed at the head of a sovereign government. Meloni rejected the claims immediately, calling them "completely fabricated." Her rebuke was sharp: "I do not know why the president of the United States behaves this way toward his allies — it is certainly not the first time this has happened. There is one thing he must remember: Neither I nor Italy ever beg."
Meloni's firm pushback won her applause both at home and abroad. Trump, rather than backing off, escalated instead. Analysts believe two specific grievances are fueling his renewed attacks on her, beyond his general appetite for belittling women.
First, Meloni opposed the U.S. strike on Iran and refused to let American warplanes use bases in Sicily. Second, when Pope Leo XIV publicly condemned the war, saying those who start wars have blood on their hands, Trump lashed out and accused the Pope of being "weak on crime." Meloni sided with the Pope on that occasion too, calling Trump's attack "unacceptable" and defending the Pope's condemnation of war as entirely justified. Those two stances reportedly angered Trump, and his renewed mockery looks like an attempt to settle the score.
Insults, ridicule, and verbal attacks are standard tools in Trump's diplomatic toolbox, used on friend and foe alike. He has deployed the same tactic against Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, describing her as "she thinks I did a great job", carrying the tone of a fan idolizing a celebrity. Many Japanese citizens found the framing disrespectful toward their own leader.
Takaichi: Trump's "number one fan." She's thrilled, unlike furious Meloni.
Unlike Meloni, Takaichi has shown no anger in response. She appears receptive, even pleased, effectively accepting the role of a devoted fan. Some Japanese citizens have criticized her for this, calling her overly pro-American and lacking in dignity.
Lai Ting-yiu
What Say You?
** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **
If attacking Iran were a business, the US just took a total bath. Military spending in the hundreds of billions. Piles of expensive missiles written off. Bases and equipment damaged.
And what did America get? Nothing. It's actually worse off than before the war. Iran now controls the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump, the businessman, is of course furious. And like any cornered CEO, he's looking for someone to blame. With midterm elections looming, he needs to distance himself from this debacle. Pinning the failure on his subordinates is pure self-preservation.
The Washington Post dropped a bombshell yesterday. At an internal meeting last week, Trump lit into Defense Secretary Hegseth, saying that he thought the ammunition shortage "had been fixed". Now he wanted answers. Why, as defense secretary, had Hegseth let him be misled?
Hegseth, feeling the heat, didn't hesitate. He pointed the finger straight at Deputy Defense Secretary Feinberg. Feinberg, he said, had failed to keep the president fully in the loop. This isn't the first time Trump has used Hegseth as
Trump threw a tantrum at an internal meeting, ripping into Defense Secretary Hegseth. His demand: explain why he was misled on the weapons shortage.
So what set Trump off? Just days earlier, he was beating the war drum, vowing even bigger airstrikes on Iran.
Then came the war council meeting. That's when the bombshell dropped. Patriot missile stockpiles? Nearly gone. Other air defense systems? Critically low. The situation was dire.
Had Iran hit back hard, US forces in the region would be sitting ducks. Trump, faced with that reality, called off the attack at the last second.
Think about that. He was making life-or-death military decisions, and he still believed the US had plenty of ammo. Unbelievable. But here's the rule in Trump's world: the boss is never wrong. He never admits a mistake.
The Washington Post describes the scene at Camp David. Trump threw a fit. He demanded Hegseth explain why he'd been kept in the dark. Why did he think the problem was solved? In Trump's mind, the fault was entirely on the other side.
Patriot missile stockpiles are nearly depleted after the Iran strikes. The situation is dire. Trump made military decisions blind to the facts, then blamed Hegseth.
Hegseth, fresh off a brutal dressing-down, went straight into survival mode. He deflected. Deputy Defense Secretary Feinberg, he argued, was the one responsible for the weapons shortage. Feinberg had failed to make sure the president knew the real state of the ammunition stockpiles. Classic Pentagon passing-the-buck.
A History of Scapegoating and Pentagon Chaos
The two clashed at the meeting, reports say. It exposed Trump's simmering frustration with Hegseth.
Inside Trump's team, Hegseth was the top war hawk. He pushed relentlessly for war with Iran. That faction dominated the early stages of the attack. The dovish Vice President Vance only gained influence later. So Hegseth owns a bigger share of the blame for the decision to go to war.
The truth is, this wasn't new. Months earlier, in late March, with the Iran war bogged down, Trump publicly dumped the blame for starting the war right on Hegseth.
At a press conference, Trump looked directly at Hegseth, sitting beside him, and spelled it out. "Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up and you said let’s do it because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon," Hegseth looked embarrassed, unsure how to react.
Analysts saw it coming. Trump, watching the war turn ugly, was already lining up a fall guy. Hegseth was the prime candidate.
The Pentagon was a mess under Hegseth. Political chatter had it that Army Secretary Driscoll could take his job.
But where there's smoke, there's fire. Hegseth couldn't figure out what Trump really thought. He saw Driscoll as a threat. So he moved first. He axed Driscoll's right-hand man and pushed his ally, Army Chief of Staff George, into early retirement. A loyalist of his took the spot. The Pentagon has been a snake pit of infighting ever since.
The Washington Post story dropped. White House and Pentagon spokespeople immediately denied it. Nothing like that ever happened, they said.
But let's be real: anonymous insiders who leak to the media often paint a truer picture than the official line.
The Iran attack is sputtering. And the calls for accountability will only get louder. With his absolute refusal to look weak, Trump will pass the buck however he can. Hegseth won't be the only one thrown under the bus.
Lai Ting-yiu
