The US president accused the pontiff of being “WEAK on Crime and terrible for Foreign Policy” in a long Truth Social post, later telling reporters he was “not a big fan”.
“The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal for him to call for peace and to condemn every form of war,” Meloni said in a statement.
Meloni, who is a Catholic and heads a right-wing coalition government, is a close ally of Trump and had so far been reluctant to condemn the US president’s harsh criticism of Pope Leo.
Italian opposition parties have criticised Meloni for failing to speak out promptly.
Her coalition partner Matteo Salvini, the leader of the populist League party, said that “attacking the Pope… doesn’t seem like a useful or intelligent thing to do.”
After Trump’s remarks, the Pope told reporters en route to Algeria that he did not want to get into a debate with Trump but would continue to promote peace.
Pope Leo has said he has “no fear” of the Trump administration and will continue to speak out against war after the US president launched an unusual and scathing attack over his stance on the Iran conflict.
He has been a staunch critic of the Iran war, calling Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilisation “unacceptable” and calling for him to find an “off-ramp” to end the conflict.
On Monday, Trump doubled down on his criticism, saying he would not apologise to the “very weak” Pope.
In general, it is rare for a pope to directly address statements by world leaders.
There are more than 70 million Catholics in the US, about 20% of the population. They include Trump’s Vice-President JD Vance.
Trump’s comments came as the pontiff embarked on an 11-day trip to Africa, his second major foreign trip since being elected last year.
