White House floats US-Europe meeting as JD Vance meets Giorgia Meloni in Rome
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US Vice President JD Vance has met with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome for a second day of talks on tariffs, with the White House suggesting a broader US-Europe summit is under consideration when President Donald Trump visits.
"I've been missing you," Meloni jokingly told Vance as he entered the courtyard of Chigi Palace, the premier's office.
They had seen each other the previous day in the Oval Office, where Trump lavished praise on the Italian leader for her crackdown on migration but didn't yield on tariff plans that have increased tensions with the European Union and stoked fears of recession.
The White House and Meloni's office issued a joint statement that said Trump would visit Italy "in the very near future."
"There is also consideration to hold, on such occasion, a meeting between US and Europe," the statement said.
President Donald Trump meets with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office of the White House, 17 April, 2025
AP Photo
Meloni as bridge between US-EU
Meloni has positioned herself as a bridge between the Trump administration and Europe and was the lone EU leader to attend his inauguration.
As the head of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, she is ideologically aligned with Trump on issues including curbing migration and promoting traditional values.
But Italy and the US have diverged over Meloni's strong support for Ukraine, while Trump's tariff threat has put pressure on Meloni to defend the EU's trade interests on behalf of the bloc.
Meloni said she hoped the second day of talks would serve to strengthen a longstanding friendship.
"We believe that Italy can be an extremely important partner in Europe and the Mediterranean for the United States of America," she said.
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"There is a privileged relationship between us of which I am very proud."
A bond market panic led Trump to partially pully back on his tariffs by pausing his 20% import taxes on the EU for 90 days and charge a baseline 10% instead.
But with Meloni sitting by his side, Trump said on Thursday that he was in no rush to reach any trade deals.
Vance reaffirmed the US-Italy friendship and told Meloni that he would brief her on some "interesting" developments in Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations.
"Big trade negotiations" would continue, he said.
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Like Trump, Vance seemed dazzled by Meloni's Italian language even though he didn't understand what she was saying.
"Of course, she could have called me a jerk and I wouldn't know, but it would be in the most beautiful language imaginable, so I wouldn't even get offended," he said.
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