Italy's Giorgia Meloni to meet Trump at the White House with the weight of EU anxiety on her shoulders
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Trump, Meloni Meet as EU-US Trade Tensions Simmer
Above: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office at the White House on April 17, 2025. Image copyright: Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-Europe narrative
There was great expectation ahead of Prime Minister Meloni’s visit to Washington, and she has delivered. Despite the pressure of being the first European leader to visit the White House since the tariffs began, Meloni achieved a significant diplomatic win for Europe. She persuaded President Trump of the potential for a U.S.-EU trade agreement, and her official invitation may pave the way for direct talks between Trump and other European leaders.
Pro-Trump narrative
Despite all of Meloni's fawning, she has come away empty-handed. Undoubtedly, this is because of the EU's export-driven economic model which has deliberately suppressed domestic demand through austerity and wage compression to bolster price competitiveness on the global stage at the expense of American manufacturers, making it a legitimate target for corrective tariffs aimed at rebalancing global trade.