Washington (AFP) – US President Donald Trump said he would “100 percent” reach a tariffs deal with the European Union as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni led a charm offensive at the White House on Thursday. Trump complimented the “fantastic” far-right leader, the first from Europe to visit the Republican since he slapped 20 percent tariffs on EU exports, which he has since suspended for 90 days.
Casting herself as the only European who can de-escalate Trump’s trade war with Europe, Meloni highlighted her conservative common ground with Trump. “The goal for me is to make the West great again, and I think we can do it together,” she told reporters in the Oval Office, emphasizing shared views on immigration and “woke ideology.” Meloni noted that Trump had accepted an invitation to visit Rome in the “near future” and that he might also meet with European leaders there.
The two leaders talked up the chances of a deal, one of a series that Trump says he will extract from major trading partners over his world-shaking tariffs. “There will be a trade deal, 100 percent,” Trump stated during an earlier working lunch with Meloni, who expressed her confidence in reaching an agreement. However, in a sign of potential challenges ahead, Trump mentioned that he was in “no rush,” emphasizing that Meloni had not swayed his overall tariff policy. “Everybody wants to make a deal — and if they don’t want to make a deal, we’ll make the deal for them,” Trump added.
Meloni was the only European leader invited to Trump’s January 20 inauguration, and US officials noted that she was “eye-to-eye with the president on a lot of issues like immigration and Ukraine.” Trump remarked that Europe needed to “get a lot smarter” on immigration, reiterating his administration’s criticisms of the bloc on this subject.
Russia’s war in Ukraine, however, remained a touchy subject. Meloni has been a staunch ally of Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky since Russia’s invasion in 2022, most recently condemning Moscow’s Palm Sunday attack on the city of Sumy as “horrible and vile.” In contrast, Trump has surprised allies with his pivot toward Moscow and frequent criticisms of Zelensky, implying in an Oval Office meeting in February that he was “not a big fan” of the Ukrainian leader.
Meloni had earlier acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding her trip as Europe grapples with threats from a country that has been its defender for decades. “Surely, I am aware of what I represent and I am aware of what I am defending,” Meloni stated on Tuesday. Italian newspapers reported that one of the primary goals of Meloni’s visit was to pave the way for a meeting between Trump and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.
Meloni’s decision to personally intercede with Trump has generated some concern among EU allies, who fear her visit could undermine the unity of the bloc. “If we start having bilateral discussions, obviously it will break the current dynamic,” warned France’s Industry Minister Marc Ferracci last week. A European Commission spokeswoman said that while the EU alone could negotiate trade agreements, Meloni’s “outreach is very welcome” and was coordinated with Brussels.
Following Thursday’s meeting with Trump, Meloni will fly back to Rome on Friday to host US Vice President JD Vance, with whom she has a meeting planned. Trump’s threatened tariffs could significantly impact Italy, the world’s fourth-largest exporter, which sends approximately 10 percent of its exports to the United States.
© 2024 AFP
