Italy’s Meloni aims for EU tariff agreement with Trump
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, hoping that her personal appeal will persuade him to offer the European Union a more favorable tariff deal.
The far-right Meloni – described by Trump as a “fantastic leader” who shares many of his conservative views – is the first European leader to meet with Trump since his trade war with the bloc began, News.Az reports citing foreign media.
Senior US officials said Meloni and Trump had a “very special relationship,” adding she could be a bridge for a deal on tariffs between Europe and Washington.
“Hopefully the Prime Minister and the President will be able to advance the ball down the field,” one Trump administration official told reporters ahead of their meeting at noon local time (1600 GMT).
“We’re open, we’re available, we’re ready to make deals for countries that take this seriously. So hopefully Italy and the EU are part of that.”
Trump is, however, also expected to raise his demand for NATO allies to spend more on defense -- a huge demand for debt-laden Italy.
Meloni has looked to maintain ties with the mercurial leader despite the chaos caused by his tariffs. She has criticized as “wrong” his 20% duties on EU exports, which he later suspended for 90 days.
Amid the uncertainty, Meloni has called for cool heads, urging Brussels not to retaliate while casting herself as the only EU figure able to potentially de-escalate the conflict.
Meloni was the only European leader to be invited to Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration and US officials said she was “eye-to-eye with President on a lot of issues like immigration on Ukraine.”
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