When Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni touches down in Washington for a meeting Thursday at the White House, the European Union, scrambling to strike a deal on trade, will be playing its Trump card.
Few European leaders make a better emissary to the court of President Donald Trump. The 48-year-old Meloni heads Italy’s most right-wing government since Benito Mussolini and ranks among the select list of leaders Trump seems to like. He has described her as a “wonderful woman,” hosting her at Mar-a-Lago and inviting her to his January inauguration.
The two see eye to eye on migrant crackdowns and the anti-woke agenda. Both slam judges who don’t rule in their favor. Meloni was also one of the few European leaders to defend Vice President JD Vance after his controversial speech in Munich in which he chided Europe for isolating far-right parties.
The question now is whether Meloni can truly be the bridge to Trump she claims to be. The E.U. is racing to take advantage of a 90-day pause on “reciprocal” U.S. tariffs, as well as to dial back the U.S. levies already imposed on steel and cars. Her meeting comes as Brussels and Washington still appear far from a trade deal after a fresh round of talks Monday, but also during a big week for Italian-U.S. relations: After her White House visit, Meloni will quickly double back to Rome to host the visiting Vance in the Italian capital Friday.
“They have a very good relationship, Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni, and she would like to help [Europe] reach a goal,” said Nicola Procaccini, a member of the European Parliament from Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, and a close political ally of the prime minister. “The goal could be a zero-tariff deal from both sides.”
Procaccini said Italy recognizes the trade imbalance with the United States and is committed to taking steps to correct it. He suggested that Meloni, who has criticized Trump’s tariffs but also cautioned Europe against responding with more levies of its own, may offer to buy more U.S. liquefied natural gas — one thing Trump has said he wants. The Italian press reported that Meloni may also come to the table with pledges to rapidly boost lagging Italian defense spending as well as large-scale investment in the United States by Italian companies, along with a potential sale to the U.S. of a sophisticated border protection system by Italian defense contractor Leonardo.
E.U. trade negotiators have already offered the Trump administration more purchases of American LNG and reciprocal zero tariffs on industrial goods. So far, those offers have yielded little sign of a breakthrough.
Meloni is gambling it may come down to the messenger.
Speaking to Italian business leaders Tuesday, she offered a candid assessment of the herculean task ahead.
“I don’t feel any pressure, as you can imagine, about the next two days,” she said ironically. “We’ll do our best, as always. Surely I’m aware of what I represent, and I’m aware of what I’m safeguarding.”
For her, the visit is high-stakes. Meloni is risking political capital both in Europe and at home on a meeting with possible negative outcomes. Should she come back empty-handed, the notion that she is favored by Trump could begin to crumble. Should she walk out the door with benefits for Italy, rather than the entire 27-nation E.U. — as some in her right-wing coalition have demanded — she risks dividing the bloc at a time when unity is seen as paramount to confronting Washington’s trade war.
“It’s hard to see what she can get,” said Nathalie Tocci, director of the Rome-based Institute for International Affairs. “The big prize — say, an E.U.-U.S. summit — seems pie in the sky. Nitty-gritty negotiations on trade are not conversations taking place at that level,” Tocci said.
It is “easier to see what she can lose if Trump is smart enough … to play divide and [conquer],” Tocci said. “In a sense, the best one can hope for is that the meeting takes place without any incident. That in itself would go down as success.”
Yet Meloni’s trip has been portrayed positively at E.U. headquarters in Brussels, where officials have been straining for an opportunity to reboot talks after Trump’s tariff barrage. Some European diplomats are also keenly aware that Trump, who likes to deride the E.U., appears uninterested in the leaders of the bloc itself, preferring to deal with national leaders such as Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron.
However welcoming they are of Meloni’s efforts, E.U. officials have also been quick to issue reminders that trade negotiations are the remit of the E.U.’s executive branch — the European Commission, led by President Ursula von der Leyen. Commission spokeswoman Arianna Podestà told reporters Monday that von der Leyen and Meloni have been “in regular contact” about the Washington trip, and described it as welcome “outreach.”
That doesn’t mean the trip hasn’t caused some friction. France’s industry minister initially cautioned that Meloni’s trip could play into Trump’s hands and divide Europe — though a French government spokesman later welcomed Meloni’s dialogue with Trump. In Italy, the center-left opposition has slammed the trip as embarrassing kowtowing: “The self-styled patriots bow their heads once again,” Elly Schlein, head of the Democratic Party, wrote of the trip on Facebook.
Meloni’s deputy prime minister and erstwhile rival Matteo Salvini, meanwhile, has called for Meloni to put Italy’s interests before Europe’s. But observers say Meloni is acutely aware that anything that looks like a bilateral trade deal will be considered illegal by the E.U. and cause her more headaches than the U.S. tariffs themselves. Antonio Tajani, her other deputy who also serves as foreign minister, has said Meloni is clear-eyed about her mission.
The Trump visit is “a mission supportive of European stances,” Tajani said in a television interview this week. “We are convinced that Europe must present itself united.”
Ignacio García Bercero, a former European Commission trade official, said Meloni would have little to gain — and much to lose — from seeking carve-outs for Italian products like olive oil. Many Italians hold industrial jobs, for instance, that are geared toward making auto parts for German factories — meaning they would still be hit hard if there isn’t a European-wide deal on trade.
“You probably can distinguish olive oil from Country A and Country B, but if you’re talking about cars, about manufactured products, any product that goes into the United States has components from all over the European Union,” Bercero said. “It’s very difficult [for Trump] to do something that doesn’t hurt everyone in the E.U.”
E.U. trade chief Maros Sefcovic traveled to Washington in February and March, only to declare that the administration was not ready to seriously engage. Now, the E.U. sees a window for negotiations following Trump’s decision to pause what was a punitive 20 percent blanket tariff. But European diplomats say they are still struggling for clarity on what the White House really wants.
Sefcovic held hours of talks with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Monday. In subsequent statements, he signaled no progress toward a deal.
“Achieving this will require a significant joint effort on both sides,” Sefcovic said.
Sefcovic’s meeting in Washington “covered a lot of ground, from tariffs to nontariff barriers,” said Olof Gill, a European Commission spokesman for trade. “The E.U. is doing its part. Now, it is necessary for the U.S. to define its position,” he added. “This must be a two-way street.”
In the meantime, current and former E.U. officials said the bloc was also seeking to understand the Trump administration’s plans for tariffs that the president has signaled are still to come, including on pharmaceuticals.
As a gesture of goodwill, the E.U. has paused its countermeasures against U.S. tariffs on steel, and is still hashing out its response to car levies. E.U. leaders have also warned the bloc could hit back harder against Trump’s across-the-board tariffs if negotiations fall apart during the 90-day pause, even floating the prospect of targeting American services from Big Tech companies.
But Meloni is leading the camp searching for a more conciliatory approach — suggesting it is better to catch Trump with honey than vinegar.
The bar for success, Procaccini said, is a “first step.”
“I don’t expect in a few hours they reach the main goal,” he said. “A first step in the right direction for me is enough.”
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