US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had a fleeting meeting on Saturday at the funeral of Pope Francis where they decided to meet formally at a future date, Von der Leyen’s spokesperson told.
During their brief encounter, President von der Leyen and President Trump agreed to meet,” Paula Pinho tweeted on X. The additional information about the timing and the venue for the meeting has not yet come out.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has been pursuing a meeting to discuss rising tensions on trade with von der Leyen as the European Commission is responsible for the bloc’s trade policies and negotiations. In contrast to Trump’s bilateral meetings with other European leaders, a direct meeting with von der Leyen had yet to happen until this short encounter.
The pressure for negotiations has increased after the US slapped huge tariffs on European Union products 25% on automobiles, steel, and aluminium in March, and 20% on other items in April. Even though the US subsequently reduced the 20% tariff rate to half until July 8, it imposed a tight 90-day deadline for negotiating a comprehensive agreement to possibly scrap the new tariffs.
In an effort to defuse the crisis, the EU canceled plans for counter-tariffs and offered removing tariffs on industrial products of all kinds between the two parties. But EU Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis added on Friday that Washington had demonstrated only tepid enthusiasm for the offer, and much work needed to be done to seal an agreement that might avert an all-out tariff war.
With trade talks in the balance, the next meeting between Trump and von der Leyen may prove to be the defining moment in the US-EU relationship.
