Giorgia Meloni meets Donald Trump for the third time in a few months , but she is the first European leader ever to see the American president after the start of the complicated trade war. "Great person," he said when he welcomed her to the West Wing of the White House, making no secret of their mutual sympathy from the beginning. "I like her a lot, she is one of the true leaders of the world. An exceptional prime minister and she is doing an exceptional job in Italy ." And again: "Italy can be the best ally of the United States if Meloni remains prime minister, our relationship is excellent."
With the “Europe's Trump whisperer”, as she was dubbed by the American media, a closed-door bilateral meeting was held first, lasting about an hour as scheduled. Then the meeting in the Oval Office with the pool of White House reporters and Italian journalists.
Meloni immediately sent out an invitation, accepted by Trump, "to make an official visit to our country", "an opportunity to meet the rest of Europe" and "make the West great again". There seems to be no doubt about a solution: both say they are optimistic about the possible agreement on duties with Brussels. The tycoon assures that not only will he find an agreement "100%" with the EU, but that he will also find one with China . Trump reminds us in any case that the agreements he manages to wrest will serve to restore the United States' trade balance with the rest of the world.
Another hot topic is the defense issue: Italy is ready to increase its commitment to 2% of GDP, the prime minister confirms. "We are aware that defense is a particularly important issue in this time," she explains in a press conference after the bilateral meeting behind closed doors: "Italy is reaching 2% as has already been decided, we have not spoken about a specific percentage but we know that defense is important for the future and we have also examined the work that needs to be done." Trump is blunt: is 2% as a target for defense spending enough? "It is never enough."
However, there are many projects to collaborate on, including space and energy. As leaked in the last few hours, Rome will increase LNG imports from the United States: " Italy will have to increase energy imports and also nuclear - he states -. We are trying to develop it, this is another axis of work together and I think there will be other paths of joint work".
On the Ukrainian front, the American president is betting on a peace in the near future: "We can save human lives, we are getting closer to a solution. We will hear justice soon. We want the massacres to end," he says. And he announces the agreement on rare earths: "It could be signed today, but I think it will be signed next Thursday and we will soon see if it can be respected," he specifies, adding that "Italy has been very helpful in supporting Ukraine." Meloni's unreserved support for Zelensky, however, is not there in Trump's case: "I do not accuse Zelensky" for the war in Ukraine, "it is a war that should not have started," but what "I say is that he has not done the best job, I am not a big fan of his," admits the White House tenant.
Donald and Giorgia, who before the actual bilateral meeting shared a lunch of artichokes and grilled radicchio with the delegations and the Italian ambassador Mariangela Zappia, are aligned on practically everything, especially on hot topics such as immigration or the battles against what both leaders define as "gender ideologies". A dialogue that she, sitting in the Oval Office with a notebook and a green pen on her lap, has always mastered thanks to the use of English, which had allowed her to establish a relationship of trust with Joe Biden as well. And even when she decided to answer a complicated question in Italian, the commander-in-chief was enthusiastic: "What a beautiful sound, it was beautiful!".
(Online Union)