By a coincidence, at the end of last June, three Americans caused controversy and irritation on various occasions among the Italians and their names were often mentioned in the Italian media, writes BTA.
Trump and his 78 billion euros
On June 24 and 25, the NATO summit was held in The Hague, the Netherlands, at which, in a joint declaration, the leaders of the 32 member countries of the alliance committed to increasing their annual defense spending from 2 to 5 percent of their GDP, and this should happen in the next 10 years. This materializes something that US President Donald Trump has been talking about since he entered his second presidential term in January. In fact, he talked about the 5 percent goal after his election as president last November. Trump has long said that the United States spends a lot on the alliance's collective defense, while other countries are not making enough efforts. Of the 5 percent approved at the summit, 3.5 percent will be for actual military spending, and the remaining 1.5 percent for spending in related sectors, such as security, cybersecurity and infrastructure projects, including those with dual purposes - military and civilian, recall world agencies, including Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
For 11 years, NATO has set a goal of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense per year, but not all countries have achieved this. In this regard, Italy lags behind and last year allocated only 1.49 percent of its GDP to defense. In April, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who positions herself as a close ally of Trump in Europe, visited the White House. During her conversation with Trump, Meloni, as she herself said at the time, did not discuss a specific increase in defense spending, but at the briefing after the meeting, the Italian Prime Minister assured that Italy was in the process of meeting the 2 percent target, and Trump stated that 2 percent is not enough in principle and more should be spent on defense.
Already in her keynote speech to parliament upon taking office more than two and a half years ago, Meloni stated that those countries that cannot fully guarantee their defense themselves should pay the one who does, which was an indication that she also supports the idea of increasing defense spending. Before the Alliance summit, Meloni spoke to the Italian parliament and said that she supports the ancient Roman maxim: Si vis pacem, para bellum, which means: If you want peace, prepare for war. This was also perceived as her support for Trump's idea of increasing defense spending.
The 5 percent of GDP for defense approved in The Hague means that Italy will have to start spending 78 billion euros per year instead of the current 33 billion euros per year, the Italian publication “Espresso“ points out. Meloni assured at a briefing after the NATO summit that not a single euro will be diverted for defense from other priority areas for Italians. But this is what opposition parties, such as “5 Star Movement“, “Green Left Union“, and the Democratic Party, fear. Representatives of the far-right party “Lega“, which is part of Meloni's ruling coalition, also fear, “Espresso“ notes. Some of these parties objected back in the winter when European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented an 800 billion euro plan to rearm the EU at a time when hundreds of billions of euros are needed to improve healthcare and education in EU member states.
While the leaders of the Alliance were meeting in The Hague, the Italian “5 Star Movement“ organized a counter-summit against rearmament in the same city, recalls the publication “Decode 39“. According to the party leader, former Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, filling arsenals with tanks, missiles and weapons is not a solution to the problems of ordinary people, in particular Italians. He believes that the authorities should focus on issues related to the economic security of their citizens, instead of rearmament.
According to ordinary Italians, the 5 percent defense spending approved in The Hague is yet another illustration that NATO allies bow to the will of the unpredictable Trump, who about 10 days ago launched strikes on Iranian nuclear sites at a time when European countries and Tehran were negotiating over the Iranian nuclear program. At that time, Trump did not consult his European partners about whether to take this step, which was in support of Israeli strikes on targets in Iran that began on June 13, Agence France-Presse recalls.
The approval of the 5 percent for defense specifically by the European members of the Alliance comes as the deadline for Trump to postpone the 20 percent additional tariffs on the EU approaches. Trump imposed these tariffs on April 2, and then postponed them by 90 days until July 9. But both before imposing the tariffs and after their postponement, he repeatedly pointed out that the EU was causing problems for the US in terms of trade and that the eurozone has unfair trade rules and restrictions against American companies.
The question now arises whether Trump will back down on the tariffs for NATO allies after they agreed to his requested 5 percent for defense. The Italian prime minister has spoken to Trump four times in the past two months about the tariffs (at the White House, on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral, and on the sidelines of the G-7 and NATO summits). Meloni even suggested that Rome be the venue for EU-US negotiations on the topic. So far, that hasn't happened. But during Meloni's visit to the White House in April, Trump expressed confidence that a fair deal on tariffs would be reached between the US and the EU. In mid-May, however, he threatened the EU with 50 percent tariffs, ANSA and “Politico“ recall.
In an attempt to ease the climate around Trump's tariffs, imposed not only on the EU but also on other US allies, including those from the G-7, the European members of the Group of Seven (France, Germany and Italy) plus Britain, Japan and Canada agreed on Friday to exempt US companies, including US technology giants, from paying a 15 percent minimum tax on multinational corporations, “Politico“ and ANSA reported. The minimum corporate tax in question was a key element of the deal, brokered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The deal was negotiated by nearly 140 countries in 2021 with the aim of creating a fairer global tax system. However, the US Congress never ratified the agreement. Now, in exchange for the G7 decision to exempt US companies from this minimum tax, the US has agreed to waive the so-called "retaliation" tax against other countries, which it imposes in response to allegedly "discriminatory" taxes levied on US companies. This decision of the G-7 is perceived by the Italians as another concession to Trump's approach, defined as “deal or no”, the media note.
Charles Francis Kaufman and his 800,000 euros
Charles Francis Kaufman is the real name of the 46-year-old American, who has presented himself with two other identities in recent years in his homeland and during his tours around the world. In his homeland, Kaufman was also known by the name Rexall Ford. He also presented himself with this name during his stay in Iceland, New Zealand, Russia, Malta and Italy. In addition, in Italy and Malta, Kaufman also worked under the name Matteo Capozzi. Under all three names, Kaufman portrayed himself as a filmmaker who designed numerous film projects. Over the past two years, in Malta and Italy, he has tried to obtain financing for two film projects, entitled “Food Wars“ and “Stars of the Night“. For the second project, Kaufman ultimately applied in 2020 to the General Directorate for Cinema and Audiovisual Arts of the Italian Ministry of Culture to receive a tax credit of over 863,000 euros. For the purpose of granting the tax credit, Kaufman, through a company he created and in collaboration with an Italian production company that he managed to mislead, presented a very detailed plan for filming a film production in Italy. The procedure for granting the tax credit was triggered at the time when the Ministry of Culture was headed by the center-left Dario Franceschini, who was a minister in the second government of Giuseppe Conte. The film project with which Kaufman applied for the tax credit never saw the light of day, ANSA recalls.
The case would probably not have become public knowledge at all if Kaufman were not currently in prison in the Greek city of Larissa. He was taken there after his arrest on June 14 on the Greek island of Skiathos on suspicion of causing the death of a 29-year-old woman and her daughter, whose bodies were found on June 7 in the park of the Roman “Villa Pamphili“. Last Wednesday, Kaufman was heard by Italian prosecutors via videoconference and he pleaded not guilty. On Friday, a Greek court ruled that Kaufman should be extradited from Greece to Italy. Kaufman himself demanded to be returned to his homeland because he said that everyone in the Italian judicial system is “mafiosi“.
The investigation into the discovered bodies of the young woman and the little girl revealed that they were Kaufman's life partner and his daughter, who was supposed to turn one on June 14. The woman was initially thought to be an American, whom Kaufman introduced to acquaintances as his wife Stella Ford. It later turned out that the woman was originally from Omsk, Russia, and her real name was Anastasia Trofimova. The girl's name was Andromeda, although Kaufman also introduced her to acquaintances as Lucia or Sarah.
Italian journalists managed to contact Anastasia's mother - Tatiana, who lives in Omsk, recalls “RAI News“. She said that Anastasia Trofimova had built a successful career in Moscow as a manager of a construction company. In 2023 went on vacation to Malta and there she met Kaufman, who introduced himself to her as a famous director under the name Rexall Ford. The two began a relationship. But in the end, Anastasia decided to return to Moscow. Then Kaufman began to call her every day on the phone and insist that she move to Malta with him. Finally, Anastasia agreed and went to Kaufman. Their daughter was born there. Anastasia's mother thought that her daughter was leading a comfortable life with a man who appreciated and loved her. For two months, Anastasia and Kaufman had been living in Rome, and the young woman's mother was convinced that they had rented an apartment near the Vatican. On May 24, they had a video call with her, during which Kaufman showed her money and credit cards and assured her that he was taking good care of Anastasia. On June 2, Anastasia wrote to her mother that she was having problems with her partner. Then the relationship between the two women broke off. On June 3, Anastasia was last seen alive in Rome and is believed to have been strangled to death by Kaufman on the night of June 3-4. Her mother identified her a week later from photographs that Italian investigators released to the media, showing four tattoos on the young woman's body. Anastasia's mother in Omsk was first contacted by the crew of an Italian television program searching for missing people.
The investigation in Italy revealed that Kaufman had been arrested five times in the United States for violent acts and had spent 120 days behind bars. His wealthy parents then arranged for him to leave the United States in exchange for a good monthly payment to be deposited into his bank accounts. Investigators found that Kaufman had three credit cards and received a monthly payment of 5,000 euros from his relatives in the United States. This provided him with a decent living during his travels abroad. But the investigation showed that in the last 15 days before the bodies of Anastasia and Andromeda were found in the Roman park, Kaufman, his partner and his daughter had been living as homeless people there. Every morning they would go from the park to a nearby market to wash in a public toilet and have breakfast, then wander around Rome all day. During these walks, the couple were stopped twice by police patrols for street brawls. On two occasions, Kaufman also got into arguments with customers in Roman establishments, for which the police were also called. On one occasion, the police stopped Kaufman for a check when he tried to enter a hotel in the center of Rome with his daughter. In neither of these cases did the police check in more detail the identity of Kaufman, who each time introduced himself as Rexall Ford, and Anastasia introduced herself as Stella Ford. An investigation into possible shortcomings in the work of the police in Rome has now begun.
Kaufman's mother, Charlene, also spoke to Italian media, saying that she knew he had a daughter. She added that her son generally dated models and that the young woman with whom his daughter was born was very different from the women he liked, but she still thought her son was happy with her.
Investigators are trying to determine why Kaufman may have killed his partner and daughter. The waters of the Tiber River, where he is believed to have thrown all their luggage, are also being searched. Investigators are also trying to determine why Kaufman, who had money and who immediately after the alleged double murder bought a plane ticket to Greece, was living as a homeless man with his partner and daughter in Rome.
The news that he had been approved for a tax credit a few years ago caused outrage among Italians and became the reason for a thorough inspection by the Ministry of Culture, while the Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli declared that the end of the waste of money in the Italian film industry had come. Kaufman could also be charged in Italy with fraud against the Italian state.
Jeff Bezos and his $237 billion
The third American who made Italians nervous last week is the third richest man on the planet - Jeff Bezos, founder of the e-commerce company “Amazon“ and the space tourism company “Blue Origin“. His fortune, according to “Forbes“ data on the fortunes of the richest people in the world, is estimated at $237 billion as of June of this year. Bezos chose to marry his longtime girlfriend, American journalist Lauren Sanchez, in Venice, world agencies and Italian media recall. In fact, the civil marriage between the two was concluded in the United States. But the wedding celebrations took place in Venice. For them, in the week that started on June 23, 200 relatives and prominent friends of the newlyweds came to Venice on 95 private planes and helicopters and 7 private yachts. Among the more prominent among them were Bill Gates, the Kardashian clan, Queen Rania of Jordan with several other members of the Jordanian royal family, George and Amal Clooney, Orlando Bloom, Leonardo DiCaprio and Vittoria Ceretti, Oprah Winfrey, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Diane von Furstenberg and many others. The total fortune of all the guests who flocked to Venice for the wedding of Bezos and Sanchez is estimated at $ 435 billion, CNN recalls. 5 super-luxury hotels were rented for the guests - "Aman", "Gritti Palace", "Danieli", "Belmond Cipriani" and "St. Regis". "Aman" was also figuratively the headquarters of the newlyweds. The hotel is housed in the 16th-century palace "Pappadopoli", where prices range from 6,000 to 9,000 euros per night, and the price of a night in the main suite is 11,000 euros, writes "Fanpage".
According to various estimates, Bezos spent between 20 and 55 million dollars on his wedding. According to the statistics department of the Italian Ministry of Tourism, the direct profits for Venice from the wedding, expressed in European currency, amounted to 28.4 million euros, referring to the overnight stays of the newlyweds and their guests. Indirect costs amounted to 17.6 million euros, including transportation and other services provided to the newlyweds and their guests. According to the department's forecast, the media hype surrounding the wedding could actually bring Venice and the entire Veneto region, in which Venice is located, revenues of 895.7 million euros, writes “Forbes“.
This gathering of the wealthy in Venice turned the city in a matter of days into a combination of a high fashion show, a Venetian carnival in the middle of summer, a non-stop red carpet parade of an early Venice fashion show, a royal wedding ceremony and a chic masquerade. All Italian media devoted enormous attention daily for 7 days to every detail related to the wedding - from jewelry and outfits, to details about the guests and details of the dishes served during the feasts.
The demonstration of wealth on display in Venice took place at a time of ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza and smoldering conflicts in other parts of the world. The celebrations also followed the open confrontation between Israel and Iran, in which the United States also intervened with direct strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites. Against the backdrop of all these international events, the waste of money demonstrated by Bezos and Sanchez for their wedding teaches a bad lesson to the younger generation, commented “Corriere della Sera“. The lesson that young people would learn is that no matter what bad things are happening in the world, if you have money, you can turn a blind eye to everything and demonstrate complete nonchalance during a wedding that is not even real, but symbolic.
However, the authorities of Venice and the Veneto region, in which Venice is located, did not share the same opinion and said that everyone has the right to a wedding celebration in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
The wedding ceremony of Bezos and Sanchez, called the “Wedding of the Century“, sparked protests in Venice, organized by a collective called “No Place for Bezos“. The main motive of the protesters was that a modern oligarch had “bought and occupied“ the city to party with his rich friends at a time when Venice is struggling with overtourism, climate change, the job market and a demographic crisis. According to the protesters, Bezos and Sanchez getting married in Venice does not solve the city's main problems. The hype surrounding the wedding will only focus attention on the glamour of an expensive wedding ceremony, but no one will talk about the real difficulties Venice is facing, the protesters added.
The protest group organized a number of actions against Bezos before the wedding, ANSA recalls. There were also protests during the wedding feasts. One of the protest manifestations was expressed in the appearance of satirical figures of Bezos in various places in Venice. One of the figures depicted him dressed only in dollars, another showed him floating through the canals of Venice on an “Amazon“ delivery package, the third depicted him sitting on a toilet bowl made of “Amazon“ delivery boxes and using dollars for toilet paper. Among the protest installations were a pair of dolls of almost human height with a caricatured image of the newlyweds, seated in a gondola. There was a protest in the evening after the wedding ceremony in the form of a procession, in which about 700 people participated, who came from different parts of northeastern Italy and passed through the streets of Venice from the “Santa Lucia“ railway station to the Rialto Bridge, ANSA reported. The group laser-projected a protest inscription onto the bell tower in Piazza San Marco.
The protesters were dissatisfied not only with the ostentatious waste of money, but also with the carbon footprint of the private planes and helicopters that brought the guests to the wedding, as well as with the unhealthy corporate environment at Amazon and with Bezos' support for Donald Trump, who, according to them, is financing wars at a time when efforts should be made to establish peace in the world, notes the Lego publication.
The symbolic wedding ceremony itself took place on Friday, June 27, on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, where the church of the same name is located. The island is opposite the central part of Venice, that is, the area with the Doge's Palace and the "San Marco" square with the basilica of the same name. There is a bell tower on San Giorgio Maggiore, from which an impressive view of Venice and the surrounding area opens. From this bell tower, protesters from the "No Place for Bezos" collective lowered a huge protest banner in the week before the wedding. However, Bezos and Sanchez were married not in the temple on the island, but in the complex of the Cini Foundation, housed in the building of a former monastery. The foundation was founded in 1951 by the industrialist and philanthropist Vittorio Cini and in memory of his son Giorgio Cini, who died at the age of 30 in a plane crash in 1949. The complex has a green labyrinth and an open-air theater, which have been open to tourists for several years. There, Bezos and Sanchez exchanged wedding rings and vows to the sounds of the ballad Can't help falling in love, performed by Italian singer Matteo Bocelli, son of the world-famous tenor Andrea Bocelli. Italian culinary virtuoso Fabrizio Melino prepared the wedding dinner. And the wedding cake was made by French pastry chef Cedric Grolet, writes “Corriere della Sera“. On Thursday, June 26, the pre-wedding dinner was held in the “Madonna Dell'Orto” church complex, famous for its frescoes by Tintoretto. On June 28, in the “Arsenal” complex was the after-wedding party in the form of a masked ball, inspired by the traditions of the famous Venetian Carnival and called “Sweet Night“, which referred to the cult film by Italian director Federico Fellini “Sweet Life“, recall “TG Com 24“ and “RAI News“. However, the predictions that Lady Gaga and Elton John would sing at this party did not come true. The main entertainment part of it was provided by Usher. All this was accompanied by more parties, lunches and dinners, walks and shopping around Venice for the distinguished guests.
During all the ceremonies and receptions, Sanchez wore jewelry worth a total of between $20 and $30 million. Among them was a new gift from Bezos - a diamond necklace worth $5 million, an engagement ring with a pink 30-carat diamond worth $3 million, which she received two years ago from the billionaire, as well as diamond earrings from Dolce & Gabbana, lent to her by the Italian designers especially for the wedding ceremony, write “Lego“ and “Vanity Fair“. During all these events, the newlywed changed 27 outfits, and when choosing them she consulted with Anna Wintour, who was the editor-in-chief of “Vogue“ for 37 years. Among the dresses were models by “Dior“, “Versace“, “Schiaparelli“, “Oscar de la Renta“, “Alaïa“, “Alexander McQueen“ and others. For the three leading events, the bride chose “Italian dresses“, created by Italian designers and referring to the traditions of Italian culture. The wedding dress was by “Dolce & Gabbana“, inspired in part by the dress of Cinzia, the heroine of Italian actress Sophia Loren in the cult film “A Husband for Cinzia“ from 1958. Sanchez's dress, with a restrained and elegant cut, giving the bride a mermaid silhouette, included delicate lace embroidery, 180 buttons, covered in chiffon, a tulle veil and embroidered lace. The dress took 900 hours to sew, according to the Italian media "Lego", "Corriere della Sera", ANSA and the Italian editions of "Vogue" and "Vanity Fair". They also recall that Sophia Loren's film outfit, which inspired Sanchez's dress, was in turn inspired by Grace Kelly's wedding dress and was the work of film designer Edith Head. For the pre-wedding dinner, Sanchez opted for an outfit by the Italian fashion house "Schiaparelli", reminiscent of the motifs of Venetian glass chandeliers. For the masquerade ball after the wedding ceremony, Sanchez chose an outfit by the Italian fashion house “Versace“, reminiscent of the elegant negligence that emanated from “La Dolce Vita“.
This selection of predominantly Italian outfits for the main wedding celebrations, combined with the selection of Italian-inspired dishes during the main banquets, was perceived as a tribute to Venice and Italy by Bezos and Sanchez. And as a concession to the protests against his wedding in Venice, Bezos' decision not to bring his two impressive yachts to the city, which remained anchored in the Adriatic Sea, off the coast of Istria. Under pressure from the protests, Bezos also changed one of the locations of the celebrations. In addition, he made a donation totaling three million euros to three organizations that care about the preservation of the ecological, historical and cultural heritage of Venice, as well as those dedicated to scientific research on everything related to Venice and the Venetian Lagoon. The first of them is the local office of UNESCO, the second is the International University of Venice, and the third is a consortium between the University of Venice “Ca Foxari“, the Architectural University of Venice, the National Research Council and the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics. Critics of Bezos say that three million is nothing compared to his more than 200 billion dollars. Opponents of the extravagance of Bezos and Sanchez now wish the newlyweds to donate a significant amount to people in real need around the world. Bezos himself, who left Venice with Sanchez on Sunday, says he doesn't understand why people protested against his wedding in Venice and says it has somewhat soured a happy moment in his life, notes “Gadgetino“.