President of the United States Donald Trump extended warm compliments to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in a friendly and high-stakes White House conference, noting her leadership and agreeing with her on important policy positions. The meeting confirmed their developing political understanding and common desire to influence world economic policy.
I do appreciate her quite much. She is, in my opinion, an excellent prime minister. Italy has I believe found her excellent results. She made us quite proud. Seated across from Meloni, Trump said, “I knew her right from the start; she’s one of the true leaders of the world.” And I really am grateful to be with her.”
Personal Bond Grows Between Trump and Meloni
Beyond few years, Trump and Meloni have developed a near close acquaintance marked by top-level meetings and personal talks. Their partnership was more clear following their private chat at the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and another trip by Meloni to Trump’s Mar-a-villeago estate.
Widely seen as the European leader most ideologically similar to Trump, Meloni supports his hard national sovereignty, immigration control, and protectionist trade policies. Their White House meeting was a verification of common political philosophy as well as a diplomatic engagement.
Meloni Regarded as Vital Link for Trump in Europe
Though she is not an official representative of the European Union, Meloni’s trip has further implications for EU-U.S. relations. Seen by onlookers as a possible informal connection between European heads and the ex-president is she—that is, someone thought to have Trump’s ear.
The two heads’ mutual respect signals a strategic alliance focusing on later negotiations, particularly on trade and tariffs. Trump’s praise of Meloni not only highlighted her part in Italy but also pointed to a major transatlantic link.
Trump justifies tariff plan, shows flexibility
Most of the debate at the meeting centered on Trump’s trade and economic strategy. Almost all United States trading partners would be subject to a 10 percent base tariff under his administration. Under the “reciprocal tariff” approach, the European Union could see a 20% tariff increase on its exports to the United States. Trump did remark, however, that the application of this higher tariff has been stopped temporarily for ninety days.
Trump said, “We deleted that just because it was the natural thing to do till we determine the number.” He also attributed his trade policy with rising U.S. revenue, noting, “We’re bring in a lot of cash, which we’ve never done previously. To be honest, with Biden we were losing quite a bit on trade.”
Trump remarked to underline the efficacy of his policies, “We are going to end up with a baseline of significant size, for which we never received anything.” Until I arrived, the United States never got anything. And then I placed quite severe tariffs on China, if you recall. And we took in several hundreds of billions of dollars.
The meeting ended positively, emphasizing the potential of future cooperation on international economic and strategic fronts as well as the power of the Trump-Meloni partnership.
