Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is traveling to the White House on Thursday for a meeting with President Donald Trump, aiming to ease tensions over U.S. tariffs on European goods and position herself as a bridge between Washington and Brussels.
Meloni is trying to balance her political closeness to President Trump with her obligations to European allies. Those allies have criticized Trump for raising tariffs on European goods and for excluding the European Union from talks with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
While Meloni is under pressure at home to protect Italy’s export-oriented economy, which last year ran a 40 billion euro trade surplus with the United States, she must also show that she is defending the interests of the entire 27-member EU bloc.
French government ministers have warned that the Italian leader could undermine EU unity by going to Washington without coordinating with others, but the European Commission, which is in charge of negotiating trade agreements, welcomed Meloni’s visit.
Trump’s surprise decision last week to suspend most global tariffs for 90 days has eased some of the pressure on Meloni, meaning she will not be under pressure to return with a concrete agreement but to create a favorable atmosphere for a future deal.
