Meloni and Trump: An Oval Office Meeting With Rapport and Banter

For international leaders, visiting the White House these days is an unpredictable undertaking that comes with a risk of being embarrassed, or worse, berated, by President Trump.For Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, Thursday’s meeting in the Oval Office was largely a smooth affair, with Mr.

Trump covering her in hyperbolic praise and making clear he is fond of her.But beyond the friendly anti-immigration banter, and shared optimism that the European Union and the United States would reach a trade deal, neither leader indicated that they had made substantial progress on negotiations over tariffs and other issues.“We’re in no rush,” Mr.Trump said.Ms.

Meloni was the first European leader to visit the White House since Mr.Trump imposed and then partly paused sweeping tariffs against the European Union.

And the meeting dispelled any remaining doubts on the special relationship between the two leaders.But what the rapport could yield for Italy and for Europe remained unclear.“She was treaded like a first-rank ally,” said Lorenzo Castellani, a political scientist at Luiss Guido Carli university in Rome, adding that it was unusual for Italy, which is not a military or economic powerhouse.“She became a de facto mediator,” he added, “but in concrete terms, she did not bring anything home.”The European countries’ trade policy is conducted collectively through the European Union, and Ms.

Meloni made it clear that she could not look for a deal on behalf of the bloc.So perhaps her biggest achievement was having Mr.

Trump accept her invitation to pay an official visit in the “near future” to Rome, where she hoped he would meet with European officials.If that happens, it could help cement her position as a conduit between Europe and the United States.

For now, though, as she said, Mr.Trump had offered no guarantee that he would meet with European officials.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your br...