U.S. President Donald Trump and close ally Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed optimism about resolving trade tensions that have strained U.S.-European relations, ahead of talks at the White House.
The 27-nation European Union faces 25% import tariffs on steel and aluminum and cars, and broader tariffs on almost all other goods under Trump’s policy to hit countries he says impose high barriers to U.S. imports.
Meloni, sitting across a table from Trump ahead of a lunch at the White House, said she was certain they can make a deal on trade.
“I am sure we can make a deal, and I am here to help with that,” she said.
Trump said that broadly speaking he expected he would make an announcement about trade deals but was in no rush.
“We’re going to have very little problem making a deal with Europe or anybody else, because we have something that everybody wants,” Trump said.
Meloni said she would invite Trump to visit Italy. She also said she expected Italy would announce at the next NATO meeting in June that her country would be able to reach the alliance requirement that each member nation spend 2% of GDP on defense spending.
“We have a very good relationship together and as countries,” Trump said.
Meloni, a 48-year-old conservative who Trump has warmed to, was the only European Union leader invited to Trump’s inauguration in January. Trump’s move to pause most global tariffs for 90 days last week has eased some pressure on Meloni.
Two senior U.S. officials who briefed reporters ahead of the visit said Trump and Meloni have a “very special relationship” and that he sees her as a “valuable interlocutor” between the United States and Europe.
Trump will make clear in the talks that “his expectation for Italy and all of Europe to do their part to be good trade partners with the U.S.,” one official said.
Their meeting took place the day before she hosts Vice President JD Vance in Rome. These back-to-back talks could be critical in determining whether she can play a mediator role between the United States and Europe.
Meloni is walking a tightrope between her ideological affinity to the president and her ties with European allies, who have criticized Trump’s tariff hikes and his decision to exclude the EU from talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
Meloni is facing pressure at home to protect Italy’s export-driven economy, which last year ran a 40 billion euro ($45.4 billion) trade surplus with the U.S.
But she must also be seen to defend the interests of the whole 27-nation EU bloc.