Latest Update : Italy’s Meloni, in meeting with Trump, expresses hope to “make the West great again” — Read more.

Latest Update: Italy’s Meloni, in meeting with Trump, expresses hope to “make the West great again” — Read more.

Italy’s Giorgia Meloni says “we hope to make the West great again” as Donald Trump hosts the Italian Prime Minister at the White House

The US president says there will “100%” be an EU tariff deal, boasting that he’ll have “little problem” securing one

He adds that he plans to sign the Ukraine minerals deal “next Thursday”
As a reminder, that deal was expected to be signed during Zelensky’s White House visit in February, but was put on hold after their fiery meeting

Meloni is the first European leader to visit Washington since Trump brought in 20% tariffs on the EU – they have since been paused for 90 days

From the moment she arrived at the White House, Giorgia Meloni was warmly welcomed. Trump called her a “great prime minister” and said she had “taken Europe by storm”.

Meloni’s visit to Washington today had been eagerly awaited. After months of a trade standoff between the US and the European Union, Meloni was seen as a “Trump whisperer” who Brussels hoped could help ease tensions.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was full of praise for his Italian counterpart – and Meloni seemed to say all the right things, as our Europe reporter Laura Gozzi notes.

There was no announcement of a trade deal, but both leaders sounded optimistic. Trump also accepted Meloni’s invitation to Rome, though we don’t know when that will happen.

Meloni is now heading back to Italy for talks with US Vice-President JD Vance tomorrow. They could continue the discussions on tariffs, defence spending, and perhaps ways to “make the West great again”.

Meloni is now heading back to Italy for talks with US Vice-President JD Vance tomorrow. They could continue the discussions on tariffs, defence spending, and perhaps ways to “make the West great again”.
We’re wrapping up our live coverage for now – Meanwhile, you can read about today’s talk in our full coverage here6