Trump-Meloni: After Sweet Words, the Appointment in Rome

“Sweet words,” headlined Politico.com this morning about the meeting in Washington between U.S. President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. And indeed, sweet words they were: a meeting that went smoothly, perhaps even beyond Meloni’s expectations, as she received plenty of compliments without needing to give too much in return; and she wasn’t even reprimanded when, answering a question in Italian, she stated that Ukraine is the country being attacked and Russia is the aggressor. Trump had her words translated into English, but didn’t rebuke her—in fact, he followed her lead, while reaffirming his skepticism toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Next Thursday, an agreement on minerals with Ukraine will be signed, and soon there will be news from Moscow.
Few concrete results, but none were really expected. Meloni invited Trump to Italy, and he accepted, not ruling out that the visit could be an opportunity to meet EU leaders. If the EU-U.S. summit were to take place in Rome, it would be a major recognition of Italy’s role as a bridge between Europe and the United States.

Meloni announced that Italy would increase its defense spending to 2% of GDP—a commitment long made within NATO but always unmet. She stated that this target will be officially confirmed at the next NATO summit, scheduled for June 24-25 in The Hague. Trump, on this issue, wasn’t overly impressed and remarked that “defense spending is never enough,” without elaborating further.

Trump-Meloni: Three Roles for a Mission
Last evening, Giorgia Meloni arrived in the United States in the triple role of Italian Prime Minister, European envoy, and perhaps Trump’s fifth column, given her political affinity with the President. Meloni was the first EU leader to meet Trump after the April 2 ‘Liberation Day’ with the global tariff war declaration, and the subsequent ceasefire (excluding China) on April 9. She brought with her a small “gift”: $10 billion in investments from Italian companies in the U.S.

To highlight Italy’s significance in Trump’s political landscape, Vice President JD Vance will visit Italy until Sunday, Vice President who was present alongside Trump during the Oval Office meeting with Meloni, with journalists. Vance will spend three days in Italy, mixing politics with tourism, as a guest at Palazzo Chigi, and will meet Cardinal Parolin in Vatican City, in a heavily guarded capital.

The Trump-Meloni meeting had three phases: a working conversation, a quick lunch, and, finally, a chat with journalists in the Oval Office. Most of the questions were directed at Trump on various issues such as migrants, inflation, and wars: his responses didn’t provide much news, but rather gave him the opportunity to repeat that everything is going well, even better since he became president, and that things would go even better if Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell—whom Trump appointed—lowered interest rates, as the ECB did just recently.

Regarding Meloni, Trump said, “She’s an exceptional person. I like her a lot… She’s one of the true leaders in this world… She’s an exceptional Prime Minister, and she’s doing an exceptional job in Italy.” As for the commercial negotiations with the European Union, which started on Tuesday without much fanfare, he said, “I’m sure we’ll make a fair trade deal with the EU,” and for China, he similarly predicted “a good deal,” although he added, “I’m not in a hurry.”

Meloni, for her part, said, “I believe we must speak frankly about each other’s needs and meet halfway… I’m sure we can reach an agreement, both of us can emerge from the negotiations stronger, and we can strengthen both sides of the Atlantic.” On defense spending, she stated, “We’re convinced that everyone must do more.”

In the background, there were some paradoxes from Trump—alias, falsehoods—like: “Europeans are parasites? I never said that.” Meloni reassured, “We didn’t talk about Starlink, but about Mars” (Elon Musk wasn’t in Washington); and even a “Melonian” paraphrasing of Trump’s slogan: “I want to make the West great again… Things in Europe are changing thanks to Italy… With Trump, we share the fight against ideologies…”