London/Washington, April 16 -- The war in Iran and President Donald Trump's rhetoric have driven US alliances with Europe near the breaking point. The US has offered a diplomatic version of the silent treatment to many European partners, refusing to loop them in about its plans for the conflict and progress in peace negotiations, officials on the continent say. That's included freezing much of Europe out of consultations on his recent move to impose a blockade against the few ships Iran has allowed to navigate the Strait of Hormuz, and Washington's decision to let a waiver on Russian oil expire. The US isn't the only one increasingly going at it alone. The UK and France - which have drawn Trump's ire over their criticism of the war - are expected to host their own conference on Friday to discuss peaceful means to restore free transit through the strait. Meanwhile, many allies have so far refused to participate in the US blockade. And while the US and European leaders may not be speaking privately, they are quite publicly trading barbs. Following Pope Leo XIV's criticism of the war in Iran, Trump launched a broadside against the pontiff, calling him "terrible for foreign policy." Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister who fostered a friendly relationship with the US president, called Trump's tirade against the pope "unacceptable" and suspended Italy's two-decade-old defense pact with Israel, the US's partner in the war, citing only "the current situation." The fissures have emerged against the backdrop of Hungarians over the weekend voting to end the 16-year tenure of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, despite a last-minute campaign visit by US Vice President JD Vance. The defeat was seen as a blow to Trump, who has long hailed Orban - a close ally of Russia's Vladimir Putin and frequent irritant to the European Union - as among his closest partners on the continent. Taken in total, the shift has laid bare the limits of Trump's singular brand of leadership, which has disregarded the coalitions previous presidents built to counter adversaries and foster American soft power abroad. European officials privately concede that the break is unlikely to prove permanent. Security and energy concerns mean they cannot countenance a full split with Washington, and some even agree Trump's blockade may provide the necessary pressure to encourage a deal to end the war, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Still, it will be up to Trump to unwind the crisis he helped create in the Middle East - and for the US Navy to potentially get involved in reopening the strait, at risk to American servicemembers. That has significant implications for a conflict that has set off a global energy crisis and driven economic uncertainty. "Trump and people around him seem not to understand that American power floats on other countries' voluntary cooperation to drive down the costs and difficulty of anything we try and do in the world," said Kori Schake, a former George W. Bush administration official now at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute....