Why Italy’s Giorgia Meloni Just Walked Into the White House - And What It Means
Italy’s first female Prime Minister walked into the White House - but this was no photo op.
LOS ANGELES - Giorgia Meloni is leveraging her rapport with Donald Trump to redefine Europe’s role in global trade, security, and diplomacy.
Born in Rome in 1977, Meloni is the first woman and first post-World War II far-right leader to serve as Italy’s Prime Minister. She was elected in September 2022 and began governing in October with a right-wing coalition led by her party, Brothers of Italy.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Meloni’s main goals during her White House visit on July 16 were to reduce Trump-era tariffs on Italian goods, boost Italian investment in the U.S., increase U.S. energy exports to Europe, and reaffirm Italy’s commitment to NATO’s defense spending threshold.
Ahead of the trip, she pitched herself as a bridge-builder for Europe, telling reporters from Politico Europe that Italy could act as a “transatlantic link” between U.S. interests and the European Union’s priorities.
At the White House meeting, Trump expressed optimism about a future trade deal, telling Corriere della Sera, “There’s no reason why we can’t get to a very good agreement.” Both sides are reportedly exploring tariff reductions in exchange for stronger energy ties-including increased U.S. gas imports-a development first detailed by The Wall Street Journal ahead of the July 16 meeting.
Italy also recommitted to reaching NATO’s benchmark of spending 2% of GDP on defense. Meloni reinforced this in a joint statement, calling NATO “an irreplaceable pillar of transatlantic security.”
The meeting revealed ideological alignment as well. Both Meloni and Trump shared concerns about “protecting Western civilization” and opposing “woke” or progressive policy making, according to Politico Europe. In a brief media appearance, Meloni said, “We share a vision — the defense of values, identity, and sovereignty.”
According to The Washington Post, some EU officials in Brussels are uneasy with Meloni’s bilateral strategy. Even though she’s still officially in step with EU policy, Meloni’s solo diplomacy risks cracking the bloc’s united front - especially when it comes to trade.
By cutting side deals or cozying up to leaders like Trump, she could weaken the EU’s leverage as a single negotiating power and stir internal divisions. Under EU law, individual member states like Italy cannot finalize international trade deals alone; that authority belongs to the European Commission.
As one Brussels diplomat told The Guardian, “Meloni is positioning herself as Europe’s Trump whisperer. But the more she acts alone, the harder it is to hold the EU line.”
In the short term, Meloni seems to have strengthened her standing - particularly with key U.S. allies. Trump praised her directly at the White House, saying, “I do like her very much… I think she’s a great prime minister, and I think she’s doing a fantastic job in Italy,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
But despite the warm optics, the tariff issue remains unresolved. Because the EU, not Italy, controls formal trade negotiations with the U.S., any deal Meloni brokered would still need to pass through Brussels - and possibly face resistance.
For Americans, this visit may seem distant - but it touches directly on gas prices, transatlantic jobs, and military spending.
For Europeans, Meloni’s approach signals a shift away from collective bargaining toward personality-driven foreign policy - a style that may weaken the EU’s negotiating power and fragment consensus on key issues.
And for global politics? This meeting is another marker of how populist-aligned leaders are reshaping diplomacy - less through institutions, and more through alliances built on shared ideology. As Politico put it, “Meloni is walking a fine line between disruptor and diplomat.”
