Italy’s right-wing leader Meloni positions herself as Trump’s ally in Europe

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made a shock go to to Mar-a-Lago on Sunday, assembly incoming President Donald Trump for the second time since he gained the U.S. election in November.

Throughout the assembly in Florida, Trump described Meloni as a “incredible lady… she’s actually taken Europe by storm” in a briefing with reporters.

Meloni, in the meantime, posted on X that she’d had a “good night” with Trump, including that she was “able to work collectively,” in keeping with a Google translation of her submit.

She had beforehand spoken with the president-elect on the sidelines of the reopening of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris in early December.

The mutual admiration means Meloni is well-placed to place herself as Trump’s key ally in Europe. Her trans-Atlanic efforts come at a sophisticated time for different European heavyweights Germany and France, whose leaders are fighting home political challenges and have each confronted criticism from Trump.

Meloni has a variety of causes to court docket the incoming administration, not least Trump’s tariff risk to Europe. Throughout his reelection marketing campaign, the previous president threatened to impose a 10% tariff on all items imported to the U.S. — the European Union’s largest buying and selling companion by way of exports.

For Italy, the associated fee might be important.  

A research by European threat evaluation agency Prometeia calculated that 10% duties on imports may value the Italian economic system as much as $7 billion, because the U.S. is the nation’s second-largest export market after Germany. Caixabank analysts put Italy’s publicity to the U.S. at round 4% of GDP, simply behind Germany at 5%.

Alongside her conferences with Trump, Meloni has additionally been cultivating ties with Elon Musk, the Tesla boss who is predicted to play a key function in Trump’s new administration. In an interview with Italian information outlet Corriere della Sera, she described him as a “nice determine of our occasions,” including he’s a “genius” and wrongly portrayed as a “monster.”