He appreciates a wonderful woman sweeping Europe before him. She admires a strong and clever defender of the West. Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni are rapidly forming a new transatlantic “special relationship.”
Italian Prime Minister Meloni was the only European leader at Trump’s presidential inauguration on Monday, an honor that came barely two weeks after she flew to Florida to meet him at his Mar-a-Lago retreat, and to become Washington’s new Reached pole position. Become an ally in Europe.
“Trump has chosen him as the preferred negotiator in the EU for the reliability, the credibility and the stability of our government,” Edmundo Cirielli, a member of the Meloni Brothers of Italy party and Italy’s deputy foreign minister, told Reuters.
“It is useful for Italy and will also be useful for the EU.”
Indeed, in theory, Meloni would benefit greatly from being in Trump’s good books. NATO member Italy has a large trade surplus with the United States and a low defense budget, putting it on a collision course with the new administration unless it can leverage its relationship with the president to avoid it. .
But aligning oneself too closely with the flamboyant US commander-in-chief also carries potential dangers. Meloni has worked hard to convince Brussels that she is a reliable partner and that her position could be weakened if she clearly promotes Italian interests at the expense of the Group of 27.
“Meloni is in a very strange position indeed,” said Francesco Galietti, founder of political risk firm Policy Sonar.
“She hopes that listening to Trump will prove valuable, but she risks isolating herself in Europe with no guarantee that she can save Italy from the threat of US tariffs or heavier tariffs.” “Could deal a blow to defense spending.”
In less than 10 years, Meloni went from being the leader of a marginalized ultra-nationalist party to the head of one of the most stable governments in post-war Italian history, and a figure among the far-right and conservative factions in Europe. Working as a bridge.
A Natural Ideological Partner Trump’s election has given him the opportunity to play an equal role on a much larger stage – one that has seen the rise of powerful personal alliances between leaders like Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan in the 1980s that cemented what is widely seen as There is what is called a “special relationship” between Britain and the United States.
“Italy will always be committed to strengthening the dialogue between the United States and Europe, as an essential pillar for the stability and development of our communities,” Meloni said in a statement after applauding Trump’s inauguration. “
Despite Meloni’s move away from his far-right roots, some analysts in Rome who have tracked his rapid rise remain confident that his deeply entrenched Eurosceptic tendencies will prevail.
“To think that she is going to act in Europe’s interest and become a Trump whisperer is complete naivety,” said Nathalie Tosi, director of the Italian international relations think-tank Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI).
“She will always instinctively choose national interests over European interests.”
Trump: Meloni is a wonderful woman
Trump and Meloni have praised each other since the president sealed his return to the White House.
“It’s very exciting. I’m here with a wonderful woman,” Trump said during Meloni’s visit to Mar-a-Lago this month. “He has really taken Europe by storm.”
Meloni, for his part, has stressed that the US president-elect will protect Western interests and said his geopolitical skills could force Russian leader Vladimir Putin to come to the negotiating table to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
“Trump has the ability to balance diplomacy and deterrence,” he said after a trip to Florida.
Potentially, Italy has a lot to lose from a Trump presidency, especially from his threat to reverse the US trade deficit with the EU, possibly through increased excise tariffs.
According to the EU’s statistics office, the G7 member state recorded a trade surplus of 42.1 billion euros ($43.6 billion) with the United States in 2023, the second largest in the bloc after Germany, making it particularly vulnerable to tariffs. Has become sensitive to.
Italian newspapers have said Meloni will use his alliance with Trump to divert increases away from local companies, such as its food producers. Meloni’s office declined to comment on such speculation, but analysts say Italy would still suffer losses even if Trump directed his anger elsewhere.
“The Italian economy is so tied to the European economy that to think that tariffs could simply punish France or Germany without hurting us is an illusion,” said Arturo Varavelli, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations in Rome.
“Meloni knows this, so for better or worse, she has to represent Europe’s interests to Trump,” he said.
A senior EU official in Brussels, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was not yet clear whether Trump wanted to build a bridge to Europe with or without Meloni. Another official said Meloni’s friendship with Trump would be valuable if he could convince him to side with Ukraine in a war with Russia.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the relationship between Trump and Maloney.
Meloni: Elon Musk is a priceless talent
Meloni is also close to billionaire Elon Musk, who has emerged as a major mover and shaker in the president’s inner circle, and the pair have showered praise.
For example, Musk described Meloni as “a person who is more beautiful on the inside than on the outside” at a black-tie event in New York last September, prompting the Italian leader to respond that the entrepreneur is a Was a “precious talent”.
Meloni’s government has negotiated the signing of a potential five-year contract worth 1.5 billion euros with Starlink, part of the Musk empire. Italian officials say the country’s military and diplomats need secure satellite communications of the type offered by Starlink and they cannot wait until 2030, when a rival European system, IRIS 2, is expected to go on line.
IAI’s Tosi said, “The government says this deal is not harmful to Europe, but it is clear that if you spend 1.5 billion on Starlink, you are not far from it in five years to join IRIS. Will go.” “This is a very clear example of Meloni putting national interests above European interests.”
A Starlink contract would boost Italian defense spending slightly, but not enough to satisfy Washington.
While NATO has said that member states’ military budgets should total 2% of national output, Trump has called for increasing it to 5%. In Italy, spending is hovering around 1.5%, with the country’s huge debt mountain preventing any additional spending.
Policy Sonar’s Galietti said he doesn’t believe Washington will accept the kind of vague pledges that Rome has offered to increase spending over the past decade.
“We won’t keep our promises, and just being Trump’s best friend isn’t going to help Meloni in this case.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
