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Giorgia Meloni revels in her reputation for being an eye-rolling, combative and determined leader. Now she’s got a new role – Italy’s prime minister is now a political peacekeeper.
Relations between Europe and America are lousy. President Donald Trump didn’t just impose tariffs on the European Union, but he referred to it as “pathetic” and claimed, without facts, that it had only been created to thwart America.
On defence, Europeans believe his commitment to NATO is now lukewarm, and many seethe at the way he has gone behind their backs to open talks with Russia about the future of Ukraine.
Across the continent, there is an uneasy feeling that Washington is now closer to Moscow than Brussels.
And into all of this walks Meloni – the only world leader to attend Trump’s inauguration earlier this year and a committed believer in strong ties across the Atlantic.
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On the surface, the two leaders are kindred spirits – right-wing populists who thrive on anti-migration sentiment and hark back to the allegedly forgotten greatness of their countries.
Meloni, though, is more flexible – where Trump pushes on regardless, Meloni reads a room and reacts.
She travels with the blessing of Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, who is ultimately in charge of framing any future trade deal on behalf of Brussels. Meloni may try to ease the tensions caused by tariffs, but she won’t be able to agree a new deal.
And while Washington would love to strike individual deals with EU countries, to weaken EU unity, Meloni is unlikely to play that game.
But expect Trump to push her hard. Italy has a huge trade surplus with the United States thanks to America’s desire for Italian food and its love of the nation’s luxury goods, and Italy’s reluctance to buy anything like the same amount of American goods.
Meloni will find herself under pressure to spend money on buying more American gas in return for all that Prada, Gucci and Parma ham going the other way.
But – and there is always a but – other European nations will be watching her tactics, nervous that Meloni might end up doing deals that work for her, but not for the union. Trump’s tariffs have increased tensions.
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“We know we are in a difficult moment,” Meloni said this week. “Most certainly, I am well aware of what I represent and what I am defending.”
The two leaders will talk about defence and about Trump’s long-standing demand that European nations should spend more. On that one, at least, Meloni may find herself on the back foot – Italy spends about 1.5% of GDP on its military – way, way below the level that America believes is appropriate.
On Ukraine, Meloni – unlike some others in her wobbly coalition – has long supported Kyiv against Moscow, but her previous assertions that Ukraine could win have now been eased.
She is more equivocal than Emmanuel Macron, for instance, about whether Europe can achieve anything meaningful without American military support, and few Italians think their troops should be involved in any future peacekeeping mission.
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