Meloni
says Trump to visit Rome after Washington talks over tariffs
Trump
praises Italian PM and accepts invitation that could present chance to meet
other European leaders
Angela
Giuffrida in Rome and agencies
Thu 17 Apr
2025 20.46 CEST
Giorgia
Meloni said Donald Trump had accepted her invitation for an official trip to
Rome, as the pair met in Washington in an attempt by the Italian prime minister
to bridge the gap between the EU and US amid trade tariff tensions.
Meloni said
Trump’s trip could happen “in the near future” and could present an opportunity
for him to meet other European leaders.
“The goal
for me is to make the west great again,” Meloni said.
Trump opened
the summit in the Oval Office on Thursday by saying Meloni was “doing a
fantastic job” and had “taken Europe by storm”, adding that she “has become a
friend”.
Trump and
Meloni had earlier both expressed optimism about resolving the EU-US trade
conflict. The EU faces 25% import tariffs on steel and aluminium and cars, and
broader tariffs on almost all other goods, under Trump’s policy to hit
countries he says impose high barriers to US imports.
“I am sure
we can make a deal and I am here to help with that,” Meloni said before the
summit.
Trump said
that broadly speaking he expected he would make an announcement about trade
deals but he was in no rush. “We’re going to have very little problem making a
deal with Europe or anybody else, because we have something that everybody
wants,” Trump said.
Before
leaving for Washington, Meloni discussed the summit with the European
Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.
Germany’s
outgoing chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and his successor, Friedrich Merz, also
discussed the meeting with Meloni, according to reports in the German edition
of Politico. Scholz failed to get a meeting with Trump and Merz’s request is
reportedly pending.
Meloni had
previously described Trump’s tariffs on EU goods as “wrong” but she appears to
be taking a more cautious approach as she manages a delicate balancing act
between her political ideals, which are more in tune with Trump’s, and Italy’s
role within the EU.
The meeting
provoked trepidation among some of Italy’s European allies as well as Meloni’s
domestic opposition amid fears their closeness risks jeopardising the bloc’s
unified approach to the tariffs and other issues.
Enrico
Borghi, a politician with the centrist Italia Viva party, told a TV talkshow:
“The advice from the opposition is that the prime minister returns home with
reopened negotiations between the US and EU that will guarantee a framework of
relative tranquility to our economic and productive system, which has been
weakened by what is a real trade war.”
Italy is the
third-largest exporter to the US from the EU. Meloni’s office denied she would
seek special tariff exemptions on Italian products. Italy has strong economic
ties with the US that go beyond exports, including foreign direct investments.
The summit
was expected to address Trump’s demand that Nato partners increase military
spending to 2% of GDP. Italy is at 1.49%, among the lowest in Europe.
It was
Meloni’s third visit to the White House, with the two previous occasions taking
place during Joe Biden’s administration.
She will
return to Rome in time to meet on Friday Trump’s vice-president, JD Vance,
whose blistering attack on Europe at the Munich Security Conference in February
she has defended.
Vance will
also meet Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, during his
Easter weekend visit.
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