Italy's Meloni heads to US with unlikely mission for Europe

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is heading to the US to meet Donald Trump – a visit that will see her walk a tightrope between representing the interests of the EU and remaining in the US president's good books.

As the first European leader to travel to Washington since Trump introduced - then paused – 20% tariffs on the EU earlier in April, Meloni will be hoping to convince him of the merits of a "zero-for-zero" tariffs deal for the entire EU.

Italy is particularly vulnerable to any changes to US trade policy.

Around 10% of its exports - worth about €67bn (£57bn; $76bn) - go to the US, Italy's third biggest non-EU trading partner, and the tariffs announced by Trump earlier this month caused Rome to halve its growth forecast.

"We know this is a difficult time," Meloni said ahead of her trip. "We will do our best – I am aware of what I represent and of what I am defending."

At this fraught moment, she is perhaps one of the best-placed current European leaders to speak to Trump. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen recognises that and they have been speaking regularly ahead of the trip.

Trump and Meloni famously enjoy a good relationship and have lavished praise on one another in the past. He has called her a "fantastic woman" who has "really taken Europe by storm".

For her part, Meloni – who has headed a right-wing coalition government since 2022 - is ideologically closer to Trump than to some of her European neighbours.

In a video message to a US conservative conference in February, she echoed some of Trump's common talking points, railing against mass migration, "globalist elites" and "woke ideology".

She was also the only European leader to attend the US president's inauguration in January, and has steered clear of overtly criticising the work of his administration since.

The harshest criticism she has dispensed was earlier this month, when she said Trump's decision to impose 20% tariffs on the EU was "absolutely wrong" and that it would end up damaging the EU "as much as the US".

"Meloni has always said that Europe shouldn't take any decisions that put it on a collision course with the US, and that Europe should adapt rather than resist," said Riccardo Alcaro of the Italian Institute for International Affairs in Rome.

"If the Trump administration is immovable on tariffs, she'll agree to counter-tariffs. But her first move is always to say no. Because ultimately she thinks the importance of the West in the world is thanks to the US, and that the West revolves around the US."

Meloni's world view is also closer to that of many of Trump's main allies than many of her European neighbours.

"She knows that Italy is strategically, politically and economically subordinate to the EU – but she also has a genuine proximity to MAGA Republicans," Alcaro added.

US Vice-President JD Vance is due to travel to Rome on Friday for Easter, and will see Meloni as well as leading officials at the Vatican.

Meloni's natural affinity to an administration many in Europe are having trouble finding common ground with has sparked concern among some Europeans that, in the privacy of the Oval Office, she may be tempted to go at it alone and argue for more favourable terms for Italy.

Last week France's Industry Minister Marc Ferracci spoke out against "bilateral talks" and warned Trump's strategy was to "divide Europeans".

His comments irritated Rome and had to be toned down later by a French government spokesperson.

The European Commission has signalled it has confidence in Meloni, and a spokeswoman said "any outreach to the US [was] very welcome".

However, the spokeswoman also said Meloni's trip was being "closely coordinated" with the institutions, and underlined that handling trade policy was a job for the EU.

The EU negotiates on behalf of all member states, and no single country can negotiate lower tariffs for its own benefit.

Meloni's team appears clear on this and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that Meloni "isn't going to negotiate for Italy against Europe but is going to champion a European stance".

Ultimately the Italian leader's mission may be to emphasise to Trump that the EU is keen to reach a zero-tariff agreement and commit to buying American – especially when it comes to defence and liquified natural gas (LNG).

And, in more hushed tones, she may also tell him that Europe is in no rush to make any deals with China.

"I don't know how public this will be but I think there will be some anti-China discourse as an incentive for the US administration," Riccardo Alcaro said.

At home, party allies were singing Meloni's praises before her plane to Washington even left the ground.

"This meeting shows Giorgia Meloni's courage and stature," said Brothers of Italy (FdI) MP Augusta Montarulli - although Senator Giovanbattista Fazzolari, somewhat less encouragingly, warned the trip would be "full of potential pitfalls".

And centre-left opposition parties took the opportunity to berate Meloni's proximity to the Trump administration.

"I have a feeling that upon her return Meloni will be flying the Trump flag rather than Italy's or Europe's," said Peppe Provenzano of the Democratic Party (PD).

"I hope to be proven wrong."

At an awards ceremony in Rome on Tuesday, Meloni addressed a room packed with entrepreneurs and business leaders – the very same who stand to lose the most from Trump's tariffs.

Looking ahead to her trip to Washington, she chuckled nervously.

"As you can imagine," she joked, "I'm feeling no pressure at all."