Von der
Leyen, Trump to meet after brief interaction at pope’s funeral
The two
chatted on the margins of the memorial for Pope Francis in Rome on Saturday.
April 26,
2025 4:32 pm CET
By Ben
Munster
U.S.
President Donald Trump agreed on Saturday to meet with European Commission
President Ursula von der Leyen, her spokeswoman said, amid a mounting trade war
between Europe and the U.S.
The
agreement came after the two leaders briefly spoke at the funeral of Pope
Francis in Rome on Saturday, with video footage showing them shaking hands and
briefly talking.
"In
their brief exchange, President von der Leyen and President Trump agreed to
meet," spokeswoman Paola Piñho said in a post on X. It wasn't clear when
the two would meet or what they would discuss.
Until
Saturday, the two leaders hadn’t met since before Trump’s inauguration in
January, with Trump appearing to deliberately — and repeatedly — snub the
European leader in favor national leaders such as Italian Premier Giorgia
Meloni.
The need for
a diplomatic meeting is particularly acute for the European Union, which faces
tariffs of 20 percent on all its exports to the U.S., plus 25 percent duties on
automobiles, steel and aluminum, if it is unable to work out a new trade deal
with Trump by the summer.
The EU
itself has threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. but has held
off since Trump granted trading partners a 90 day reprieve earlier this month.
The U.S. has still maintained 10 percent tariffs on all European goods, with EU
leaders hoping to bring the level down to zero on both sides.
The
agreement to meet comes a little over a week after Meloni paid a visit to
Washington in the hope of securing a meeting between Trump and the EU chief.
The Trump
administration hasn't yet confirmed that a meeting was arranged.
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