Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was the first European leader to fly to Washington after Trump imposed duties on imports from almost every country in the world, including Europe, where she was very warmly welcomed by the US President.
“Fantastic” Meloni in the US
“She’s a fantastic person and she’s doing a great job,” US President Donald Trump proclaimed, addressing reporters, when greeted on the White House porch by visiting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who arrived in Washington on April 17. “We certainly see her as a valuable interlocutor,” the US president went on to praise the guest, publicly showing his special relationship with her.
All of Europe was eager to see if Meloni could convince Trump to spare the EU and loosen the economic stranglehold around its neck. The Italian prime minister represents the national-conservative Brothers of Italy party, which is ideologically close to Trump, and while Trump is bad on the EU as a whole, he makes an exception for Meloni.
Indeed, despite Trump’s unstinting praise and broad smiles for Meloni in Washington, the ambassador from Europe actually arrived in the US with his hand out, which is perfectly understood in the US. It is no coincidence that the New York Times posted just such a photo to illustrate the start of her visit.
Source: nytimes.com
This Meloni’s visit to the US is a humiliation for Brussels, because from the legal point of view, the Italian prime minister has no right to negotiate on economic issues concerning Europe. This is the exclusive prerogative of Brussels, i.e. the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who Trump defiantly does not want to meet yet with.
Ursula is not invited
However, Trump did not think of inviting Ursula to Washington, just as he did not invite her to his inauguration in January, which only Meloni came from Europe, who then had the honour of meeting the president in person at his Mar-a-Lago residence. “It’s very exciting, I’m here with a fantastic woman, the prime minister of Italy,” Trump told the guests gathered in the hall.
Even then, the EU got a dismissive spit right in the face from Trump. Brussels, of course, realised this, but pretended that nothing critical had happened. And then everyone kept quiet after Trump doubled trade tariffs for China, which dared to resist. For this reason, all eyes in Europe on the eve of the visit turned to Meloni, where they thought that her main task in Washington would be to persuade Trump to meet with von der Leyen to discuss the problem of duties. The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera put this in the headline: “Meloni’s bet in Washington: to get Donald Trump to talk to Ursula von der Leyen.”
Trump’s “whisperer”
However, Brussels made the mistake of thinking that the stubborn Trump could be forced to do something, even with the eloquence and feminine charm for which Meloni is famous. In the US, for this reason, the media dubbed her “the whisperer,” referring to the famous photo of her on her first visit to the US, sitting next to Trump, his head bowed low to her, whispering something in his ear.
But what does Europe want from Trump? First of all, they want him to lower tariffs. Secondly, not to be forced to sever close economic ties with China, which is the EU’s main economic partner. Not to be forced to buy liquefied natural gas from the US alone at fabulous prices. And if they are lucky, they would like to return EU-US relations to the level they were at before.
But what did the current meeting of the Italian “whisperer” with the formidable Donald turn out to be? Nothing special. According to the Italian media, he did not promise her anything concrete. And she only managed to invite him to Italy. “I want to invite President Trump on an official visit to Italy and see if there is a possibility, when he arrives, to organise a meeting with the European Union,” she said.
“We can find ground for mutual understanding,” Italian media quoted her as saying. “I am not in favour of Western nationalism, but we can both come out stronger, we want to strengthen both sides of the Atlantic… I am here to work and make the West stronger. I believe in the unity of the West, we just have to talk and come to some results… If I thought the US was not a reliable partner, I wouldn’t be here.”
Meloni then assured the US ally, “Italy will appear at the next NATO summit announcing that it has increased military spending to 2 per cent of GDP,” as Trump demanded. And on the topic of rearmament, she further elaborated, “Europe, as we know, is committed to doing more, working on instruments to help member states “increase” defence spending. We are convinced that everyone should do more.”
“No problem with reaching an agreement with the EU on tariffs”
Trump responded by again lavishing praise on Meloni and said there was “no doubt about the understanding with Brussels: “there will be no problem with reaching an agreement with the EU on tariffs, there will be no problem with anyone,” and “it will be a fair agreement.” But what kind of agreement, he did not specify. The President made it clear that he was in no hurry and repeated: “Discussions are going well: there will be fair agreements.”
The head of the White House gave general words without saying anything specific. At the end of the lunch, the two leaders met with journalists in the Oval Office, where Trump thanked Italy for its support for Ukraine and assured that “we are close to the end of the war, but we will see it in the coming days.” “We have become friends, we have great relations between us,” Trump said, adding that Meloni is a “special person.”
The head of the European Commission herself believes that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is capable of facilitating dialogue between the EU and US President amid the growing trade conflict, an unnamed senior Italian official told the Washington Post: “Von der Leyen tells Meloni that if there is another European leader in contact with the US who can facilitate dialogue between the EU (not just Italy) and Trump, it is her.”
Risk to European unity
At the same time, the media notes that this trip by Meloni received full approval not only from the European Commission, but also from German leader Friedrich Merz, who is about to become its chancellor after the establishment of the ruling coalition in Germany. And Manfred Weber, leader of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament, bluntly stated, “I welcome all attempts to talk to Trump. Meloni and Antonio Tajani, the Italian foreign minister, are working to defend Europe’s interests.”
However, it is not that simple. There are political actors on the European stage with much more political experience and Napoleonic ambitions than the still generally new to the business Italian Meloni. Like, for example, French President Emmanuel Macron, who has long considered himself a European prima ballerina. And so he was immediately jealous of Meloni. So much so that his industry minister, Marc Ferracci, publicly called her upcoming trip to Washington “a risk to European unity.”
Such hints from Paris sparked outrage in Italy. “How is it,” asks European Affairs Minister Tommaso Foti in this regard, “that when President Macron goes to Washington, everything seems to be going well, but when he doesn’t go, not anymore? Respect and reciprocity, dear French friends.”
Such negotiations are “within the exclusive competence of the European Commission,” but “we can help the EU by trying to get US negotiators to have a positive attitude,” Tajani added in turn. So Macron, scratching the back of his head, was forced to backtrack. And soon French government spokeswoman Sophie Primas was forced to point out that Paris was “not at all concerned” and anything that “allows for dialogue with the US is welcome.” What else could Macron do? No one has invited him to Washington at the moment.
Meloni was also jealous in London. “But however much their political instincts are entwined, Meloni might need to lower expectations of her capacity to be Trump’s “whisperer” in Europe,” the Guardian reports.
“She has created an illusion of being Trump’s “chosen one,” but it is more and more clear that this is not happening,” said Sandro Gozi, an MEP with the Renew Europe group and Italy’s former Europe minister. “Trump sees the EU as an obstacle to his imperialistic strategy and he’s not doing anything to hide it. But if he wants to negotiate with us, it will be through von der Leyen and not Meloni.”
However, Trump did the opposite and began to negotiate through Meloni, embellishing his applause to Brussels with praise for the Italian prime minister. But if he goes to negotiate with the EU, he will go not to Brussels, but to Rome. And Europe will obediently wait for the “US boss” to arrive.
THE ARTICLE IS THE AUTHOR’S SPECULATION AND DOES NOT CLAIM TO BE TRUE. ALL INFORMATION IS TAKEN FROM OPEN SOURCES. THE AUTHOR DOES NOT IMPOSE ANY SUBJECTIVE CONCLUSIONS.
Sigmund Huber for Head-Post.com
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