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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met US President Donald Trumpat the White House. In a bilateral meeting held in the Oval Office, followed by a closed-door lunch in the cabinet room, the two leaders answered questions from the pool of White House reporters and Italian journalists, reaffirming their close understanding and relationship.
Trump accepted an invitation by the Italian premier for an official visit to Rome “in the near future”, an occasion, Meloni says, to relaunch dialogue between Washington and Brussels. Meloni says the US president during his Italy visit may also consider to meet with EU representatives.
“Italy can be the best ally of the United States if Meloni remains premier,” Trump said. “She is a great person, she is doing a great job and our relationship is great. Italy is one of our closest allies not only in Europe,” he added.
On tariffs, both leaders said they were confident they could find a fair trade deal. “There will be no problem making a deal with the EU on tariffs, there will be no problem with anybody,” Trump stressed at the Oval Office.
The US president reiterated that he was negotiating with several countries but maintained that he was “not in a hurry”. The “US will also make a good deal with China” on tariffs, he added.
Meloni says she is confident that an agreement could be reached, adding that she believed “we need to speak frankly and be in the middle”.
“I believe in the unity of the West, we simply have to talk and arrive at results, and find ourselves in the best middle ground to grow together. When I speak of the West I am not speaking only geographically but as a civilisation,” said Meloni, who readapted Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan, and expressed her desire to to ‘MWGA’; Make the West Great Again.
The Italian premier also announced that Italy “will have to increase energy imports” and that “Italian companies will invest €10 billion” in the US.
Defence spending, migration, the war in Ukraine and the nuclear agreement with Iran were also among the topics discussed during the two leaders’ warm meeting.
Meloni: Italy will increase defence spending
“Italy intends to reach the 2% threshold,” the premier announced referring to the NATO defence spending requirement which has been a hot topic for the 47th US president, who’s repeatedly warned of withdrawing Washington from the alliance if European countries fail to do their part and invest in their defence capacities.
“Italy will announce at the next NATO summit that it will increase spending to 2 per cent as requested. Europe is committed to doing more, working on instruments to enable and help member states to increase defence spending. We are convinced that everyone has to do more,’ Meloni noted.
Trump, when asked whether the 2% target was enough, responded saying “It is never enough.”
Migration
“Italy and the United States have common positions on a number of issues, such as the fight against irregular immigration and synthetic drugs,” said Prime Minister Meloni.
After reiterating the tough line imposed in the first months of his presidency against migrants (irregular and otherwise) in the United States, Trump shifted focus to Europe, criticising its migration policies.
“I’m not a big fan of Europe and what they’ve done on immigration, but I think they’re going to have to get smarter, because they’re being seriously damaged by what they’ve done,” said Trump, who in turn praised the Italian government, headed by Meloni, for its migration policy.
The Italian leader immediately intervened to point out that European policies are also changing, attributing some credit to Italy.
“We are starting to do this, you will see the policies that Europe is implementing: the European Commission has just passed regulations on repatriations, things are changing, also thanks to Italy’s example. We are working together and I am optimistic.”
Trump: ‘I am not a fan of Zelenskyy’
Meloni did not evade the subject of the war in Ukraine,
Seemingly one of the few, if not the only, point of contention in the pair’s meeting, the two leaders have displayed over the months that their positions on the matter are far apart.
“I think there was an invasion and that the invader was Putin and Russia, but today what is important is that together we want to work and we are working to get to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. These are efforts on which we shared our work today as well,” said Meloni.
“Italy has been very helpful in supporting Ukraine,” Trump said, stressing that “we are close to ending the war, but we will see in the coming days”.
“Now I’m going to try to bring it to an end, but as you know Russia is much bigger as a military force, and, if you’re smart, you don’t get involved in wars that you can’t handle later,” added the US president.
“I don’t accuse Zelensky, but he hasn’t done a good job, I’m not a big fan of his.”
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