Italy may deny entry to US citizens whose passports are emblazoned with President Donald Trump’s visage, Real Raw News has learned.
On Monday, the State Department unveiled a bold, controversial design for America250 passports, a limited-edition document commemorating the 250th birthday of American independence. Samples shown by State feature an image of Trump’s face surrounded by an American Flag and the Declaration of Independence. State has said the patriotic passports will roll out on July 1 and be issued while supplies last. Current passport holders cannot surrender an existing passport for a Trump-embossed one, per State, and the redesign will only be available to citizens who apply at the Washington Passport Office.
“These should be a big hit with MAGA,” a State source told RRN. “MAGAs that don’t have a passport now have a reason to apply. President Trump’s getting the recognition he deserves. This is an exciting time to be a United States citizen.”
The design, however, hasn’t charmed everyone, and blowback to the announcement surfaced instantly on social media and from foreign governments with whom Trump has had adversarial relations. Critics have accused Trump of trying to attach his name to the Kennedy Center, ballfields, currency, bridges, tunnels, and highways—to honor himself—with the America250 passport being the latest example of his self-aggrandizement. One NATO country was so gobsmacked that its prime minister telephoned the State Department to ask if it was a joke.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy allegedly told Assistant Secretary of State Andrew Veprek that her country has a sovereign right to ban foreigners for any reason or no reason. Her voice raised, she said her country might not honor a passport bearing the face of a warmongering white supremacist.
Until recently, Meloni had been one of Trump’s most natural allies in Western Europe, as both had won their elections on right-wing populist platforms. They shared similar political ideologies. But after the United States and Israel bombed Iran, Meloni condemned the strikes, and Italy denied permission for US planes to land at Sigonella air base in Sicily, a stopover before heading to the Middle East. Trump responded by calling Meloni “weak” and saying that the US would conquer Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz without Italy’s help.
Not long afterward, they again traded blows, this time over Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo XIV. Like Meloni, Pope Leo has vociferously spurned the war and said, without mentioning Trump’s name, that he despises tyrants who spend billions and trillions of dollars on war. He indirectly accused Trump of “manipulating” the very name of God for personal gain, and called the Pentagon a “handful of tyrants.” On social media, Trump offered a blistering reply, calling the Pope “WEAK on Crime and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
Apparently, Meloni interpreted Trump’s remarks to the Pontiff as a personal attack against herself. Whether Trump and Meloni can mend their fractured relations seems unlikely given her stance on America250 passports.
Our State Department source said, “Prime Minister Meloni is ruining a good thing. She was to Western Europe what Victor Orban was to Eastern Europe—a MAGA ally. Now she’s diving off the deep end and going bonkers.”
Meloni, he added, told Veprek that only undesirable, red hat-wearing MAGA men would dare carry a passport with Trump’s face.
“She said Italy doesn’t need that kind of tourists,” our source said, “and Italy would be within its rights to turn them around at the airport.”
In closing, our source said that Veprek let Meloni know he would relay her concerns up the chain of command.