The Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, is coming to the United States. There are high expectations associated with this visit in Europe. Meloni, who enjoys a reputation as a like-minded and even a friend of Donald Trump, will try to contribute to ending the tariff war between the US and the EU. However, as the Italian press emphasizes, her mission will not be easy.
The upcoming visit on April 17 is not an attempt to “get ahead” and “play the Italian game” in relations with the United States. This was stated by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani at the opening of the Italian pavilion at EXPO 2025 in Osaka. He stressed that the reason for this visit was an official invitation received from overseas, and not a request from the Italian Prime minister. The Italian Foreign minister sees it as a strategic mission designed to push the American government towards zero duties in order to create a “large Euro-American free trade market.”
“After the hurricane of tariffs that has raged over the past 10 days,” Il Giornale newspaper in Milan notes, the Italian prime minister will become the first Western leader to meet with Trump. The meeting, “which initially seemed to serve solely to restore contacts with an incredulous ally,” she writes, “now – after European duties were suspended for 90 days – begins with completely different prerequisites.” Meloni is convinced that she can start negotiations on the creation of a free trade area between Europe and the United States. This will allow it to act as a bridge, a privileged intermediary between Europe and the United States.
The idea that the Italian prime minister could act as an intermediary between the EU and the Trump administration was actively discussed at the end of December last year after her unexpected lightning visit to Florida, where she met with the then future US president at his Mar-a-Lago residence. However, gradually the conversations on this topic subsided.
Now local observers constantly emphasize that the upcoming visit is being prepared in complete harmony with the EU leadership. This is also confirmed in Brussels. European Commission spokeswoman Arianna Podesta said Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had discussed the trip. At the same time, she noted that the head of the European Commission “welcomes any contacts between European leaders and the United States,” but recalled that trade agreements remain the exclusive competence of the European Commission.
Meloni’s visit to the United States “will certainly be difficult and filled with pitfalls,” as “the statements of the Americans make us think about readiness for a strongly protectionist policy,” said Deputy Secretary of the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, Giovanbattista Fazzolari, quoted by the newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. “I do not know how beneficial this is for the United States, but for Italy and Europe, the protectionist policy of the United States can pose a great danger,” he said.
Meloni will insist on the creation of a Western free trade area, that is, on the complete elimination of duties between the United States and EU countries. But this goal is still far away, writes, in turn, the newspaper L’Unità. The opportunity to lay the foundations for the US-EU summit, if Trump shows any interest in this topic, will be a good result for the Italian prime minister, the author of the publication believes. However, he points out that in addition to trade duties, the most sensitive topics to be discussed in Washington will be weapons, gas and China. According to the newspaper, Elon Musk is also in favor of the summit.
The issues of increasing military spending and strengthening European security will certainly be on the negotiating table with Trump. According to Tajani, 2% of GDP is spent on defense “is now considered a fact confirmed by the government.” Nevertheless, Trump’s goal of spending 5% of GDP for NATO partners remains very far away. Even reaching the 3% target will take a year, according to the Adnkronos agency, citing a government source.
According to the online newspaper investireoggi.it Meloni is ready to promise that the EU will buy more gas and weapons from the United States. But if the purchase of gas does not entail problems, since the United States has already become the first supplier of LNG to the EU, then there are questions about weapons. Italy is one of those European countries that are unable to bear defense spending of 5% of GDP.
In addition, the commentary notes, the purchase of weapons from the United States will do little for European industry. At the same time, Europe will remain strategically dependent on its American ally.
The online publication also notes that “the last, but by no means the least important card” for Meloni will be the support of the United States in imposing duties on Chinese goods. The EU will repeat the same measures in order not only to “please the White House in its strategy to contain the Asian dragon,” but also to avoid the risk that Beijing, deprived of the American market, will send its export surpluses at very low prices to Europe.
The ANSA news agency called the upcoming visit of the head of the Italian government to the United States “the most anticipated, but also an insidious mission.” The signals sent by Washington to Europe in connection with it are “far from reassuring.” Meloni does not hide the fact that a conversation with Trump, who must be persuaded to engage in dialogue with the EU in order to abandon trade barriers in order to create a transatlantic free market, will not be easy. n
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The authors of the Telegram channels also discussed the difficult relations between the United States and its European partners.
“Trump’s tariffs on goods from China disrupt Tesla’s plans to produce a Cybercab robot taxi and a Semi truck,” Temnik writes. “Musk’s company has indefinitely suspended the supply of components from China.”
“The United States is sending a diplomatic landing force to France: Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff will arrive there by the end of the week. They plan to discuss Ukraine, duties and Iran with the French authorities,” Meister writes.
The authors of the Muesli Aloud channel also pay attention to the internal European instability. “According to Politico, the EU is concerned about the upcoming presidential elections in Romania, where the leader of the far-right AUR party, Gheorghe Simion, who opposes military aid to Ukraine, is leading in the polls after Calin Georgescu, who held similar positions, was literally kicked out of the election by the scruff of his neck and a criminal case was launched.
