The latest foreign visitor to President Donald Trump, Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, faces a difficult budget as she tries to enhance goodwill between her political family in the European Union and her ideological friend in the White House.
Now, there is a little lost love among these via commercial partners.
The Italian leader is part of a relatively new crop of right -wing European leaders who have developed relationships with the Trump administration. In exchange for the president’s tendency to anti-immigration policies, Meloni gained a reputation as a bit of Trump’s winner-and the president described it as a “real direct wire” and “a wonderful woman”.
Meloni is just one of dozens of leaders scrambling to respond to Trump’s comprehensive definitions. The European Union faced a 20 % tax on all the goods sold in the United States, before the collapse of the international market Trump witnessed the suspension of these fees and instead imposes a 10 % average rate in all areas.
Trump claimed that the two countries were lining up and “kissing my ass” to try to conclude deals with his administration.
But Italy in Meloni is part of the European Union, and therefore cannot conclude commercial deals on its own. You should behave in harmony with the 27 -member commercial block, which Trump described as a rival formed the “Samar” on Washington. The enmity of the European Union enmity has not hidden – as with many other multilateral international organizations – preferably dealing with one over one.
In this sense, Meloni arrives in Washington as an unofficial ambassador to the European Union, whose real president, Ursula von der Lin, has not spoken with Trump since he had swore the constitutional oath.
The European Union leader was targeting a high criticism on Wednesday in “Bros”, which runs the White House, and told the German newspaper Die Zeit that Trump’s trade war means that “the West as we knew that it is no longer present.”
A spokesman for the European Commission told Reuters that von der Layen and Meloni were in regular contact before the trip. Even those central European figures, which may differ with Meloni on their solid local agenda, hoped to act as a bridge to Washington.
“Everyone hopes to do so, but no one knows what you will be able to achieve,” said Charles Grant, the founding director of the European Reform Center.
Grant said that although its relationship with Trump, Italy in Meloni is somewhat “in the dog’s house” with the Trump team, due to the low defense spending and his commercial impotence with Washington – two of the largest Trump episodes.
Italy spends 1.49 % of its gross domestic product on its army, less than the recommended NATO by only 2 % and only from Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Spain, according to the latest alliance numbers. At the same time, it has a 45 billion dollar trade deficit with the United States, and the sale of more commodities – mainly manufacturing, medical products, cars and wine – which it buys from the United States
This also makes Rome especially vulnerable to Trump’s definitions, as American trade constitutes about 10 % of its total exports.
“If her personal charm can overcome these problems,” it still must be seen – but I am sure it will give her. “
Meloni was not the first leader to go to the Oval Office in the hope of the haven from Trump’s commercial storm. It will not likely be the last.
On Wednesday, Trump entered himself directly into negotiations between the Japanese delegation visiting Washington and Treasury Secretary Scott Pisent.
Before retracting the edge of the abyss, Trump initially slapped a 24 % tax on all Japanese commodities coming to the United States, however, the president’s glowing view of the talks – which wears “great progress!” On the social truth after that – it was echoed by the chief negotiator in Japan, Ryosi Akazawa.
“One of the messages he was sending is that these negotiations with Japan are a top priority,” Akazawa told reporters. “What really caused my admiration is that it showed that if it was a task for you really, then showing leadership and sharing directly.”