Prime Minister of Italy .. The “New Bridge” between the American administration and Europe

Last Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni to the American capital Washington is the first for a European official since US President Donald Trump imposed customs duties on many countries of the world, on the day he described as “the day of the liberation of America.”

The visit represents a decisive test for the future of relations between the United States and the European Union in the global scene that is quickly changing, at a time when Meloni is seen as the “new bridge” between the United States and Europe, as it can maintain its relations with European leaders and with Trump itself, which is a great achievement.

Joint spirit

Italian Prime Minister Georgia Miloni did not take much time in the Oval Office to indicate her host that she shares a common spirit of opinion, and declared in English: “We are the two are fighting another battle, a battle against the ideologies that seek to eliminate the culture of diversity, equality and integration, and aim to erase our history”, using some of Trump’s favorite symbolic terms to describe their battle against what The two see it as a wild progressive. It was an indirect attempt by Meloni to clarify from the start that it was not the type of European leaders that Trump hosted in the same room over the past two months.

Meloni .. populist, conservative and political, attracted Trump’s attention and advisers. She was the only leader from Europe to attend his inauguration in January 2025, and she is a friend of his strongest billionaire consultant Elon Musk, and she adopted the same anti -migration position that helped Trump’s return to the White House.

The President of El Salvador Naguib Boukila, another ally with a similar orientation visited the White House this week, seemed that Meloni appeared to express her admiration and confidence in the Trump slogan “to make America great again”, when she said: “My goal is to make the West great again, and I think we can achieve this together.”

Whether this is Trump’s ambition or not, Europe is not a major priority in the Trump agenda, it has strongly criticized Europe, indicating that the continent has spent the past few decades colluding what he called “corruption” of the United States.

So, it is not a secret for Trump to admire Meloni, after meeting with the right -wing Italian -right Prime Minister for the first time in Paris late last year, he described it as a “real source of inspiration”, he can “work with her to reform the world a little.”

After a second meeting in the resort of “Mar A Lago” in Florida last January, he described it as “a wonderful woman … I really amazed Europe.” Later that month, she was the only head of the European Union government to attend the Trump inauguration ceremony. Since his election, I was keen to be the closest European leader to Trump, reinforcing her position as a “bridge” between the new American administration and Europe.

Ideological convergence

Before leaving Washington, she said in an event for Italian businessmen: “It is a difficult moment, let’s see how things will go in the coming hours.” “I do not feel any pressure on the next two days, and you can imagine,” she added in a sarcastic tone.

There is no doubt that Meloni has an ideological rapprochement with Trump, and its views overlap in issues such as immigration, the rights of women’s community and abortion with his views.

However, the presence of a leader in Rome shares his hostility to liberal ideals represents a suitable opportunity for Trump to reform the same between Europe and America at a time when the Atlantic relations have reached the point of collapse. Unlike the current president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Line, who, despite her repeated attempts, was unable to secure a meeting or conversation with Trump since he took office, according to European officials, Meloni, a national leader, was partly elected based on her extreme right -wing program.

Ukraine support

Although officials in the administration of former President Joe Biden expressed their surprise at Meloni’s strong support for Ukraine and praised her leadership to the “Group of 7” last year, Trump does not consider it excessively close to his direct predecessor, which some Trump aides say he hindered von der Line’s attempts to gain Trump’s support.

Before visiting the White House, one of Trump Meloni’s aides described it as a communication channel for Europe that could act as a mediator for the rest of the continent. The official said: “We are certainly a valuable interlocutor with the European Union,” the official said. Meloni said herself before arriving in Washington that she well understood expectations of her visit.

As their meeting begins, Trump said: “Everyone loves and respects her … I cannot say that about many.”

This may be an exaggeration, as its opponents in Italy accuse her of double in winning Washington and Brussels, but Meloni, at the eyes of Trump,, at least, can maintain her relations with European leaders and with him, which is a great achievement.

Unlike French President Emmanuel Macron, or British Prime Minister Kiir Starmer, or Ukrainian President Voludmir Zellinski, whose visit to the Oval Office in February ended with a loud catastrophe, Meloni was not in the White House to persuade the president to follow a specific path regarding Ukraine, or to try to correct his views on European financial support. When Trump began attacking Zelinski during their meeting on Thursday, declaring that he was “not a fan” of the Ukrainian president, Meloni chose not to intervene. Despite her description of Russian President Vladimir Putin as “Ghazi” while answering a question in the Italian language about the war responsible, she boycotted her translator in the middle of the sentence before translating the phrases loudly in English to hear Trump. “I will take it,” she said to the translator.

Limited ability

According to European officials, Meloni closely coordinated with the current president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Line, before traveling to Washington, and maintaining close relations with her counterparts in Paris, London and Berlin. However, its capacity is limited to secure an exemption from the 20% customs duties that Trump threatened to impose on the European Union; Any new trade agreement must be negotiated between Washington and European Union officials in Brussels.

So far, these officials have not been so clear about what Trump is seeking in a new agreement, and it was not clear whether Meloni would leave Washington with any new visions. However, Trump was optimistic about the possibility of reaching a trade agreement, as he said during his lunch with her: “There will be 100%trade agreement,” which was at least a glimmer of hope to avoid a commercial war through the “Atlantic”. About CNN

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Trade and defense between America and Italy

Italy, led by Meloni, does not represent what Trump is seeking from Europe. Italy’s trade surplus with the United States is about 45 billion dollars, as Americans from Italy buy drinks, Parmesan cheese and Gucci bags, and Italy currently spends only 1.5% of its local product on defense, which is much lower than the NATO (NATO) 2%. Usually, both fields provoke Trump’s anger, but he ignored the talk about that in the White House, and Meloni only treated with respect. He said in a bright tone: “It was recognized that it had stormed Europe with massive momentum,” and even before it invited Rome to meet other European leaders there.