Premier Giorgia Meloni said Tuesday she had had the “courage” to speak her mind to United States President Donald Trump on Iran and the pope recently and had not been dismayed by his reaction and the rift that ensued.

Meloni last week told Trump he was wrong to criticise Leo over the pope’s condemnation of the Iran war and said she stuck by Italy’s decision not to take part in the conflict, a choice that irked the US leader.

Trump said Meloni, with whom he had previously had very friendly relations and whom he had called “beautiful”, had changed and he no longer knew her.

“I wasn’t offended by Trump’s words.

I think courage is saying what you think, even when you don’t agree,” Meloni said on the sidelines of a visit to the Salone del Mobile furniture and design fair in Milan.

“I expected it. I think this shouldn’t stop people from saying what they think, even when they disagree. Friendship is made of this, courage is made of this.” This “clearly doesn’t mean calling into question our historic relationship with the US. Friends lend you a hand, even, and perhaps especially, when they tell you they don’t agree.”