Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on November 20, 2024, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Thomas Cuesta | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made a surprise visit to the Mar-a-Lago resort on Sunday, where she met with incoming President Donald Trump for the second time since he won the US election in November.
During the meeting in Florida, Trump called Meloni “an amazing woman… who has really revolutionized Europe” in a press conference with reporters.
Watermelon, meanwhile, Published on X She said she had a “lovely evening” with Trump, adding that she was “ready to work together,” according to a Google translation of her post.
I previously spoke with the president-elect on the sidelines of the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in early December.
The mutual admiration means Meloni is well placed to position herself as a key Trump ally in Europe. Its transatlantic efforts come at a complicated time for other European heavyweights, Germany and France, whose leaders face domestic political challenges and face criticism from Trump.
Meloni has a number of reasons to court the incoming administration, not the least of which is Trump's threat to impose tariffs on Europe. During his re-election campaign, former Pres He threatened to impose customs duties of 10%. On all goods imported into the United States – the EU's largest trading partner in terms of exports.
For Italy, the cost could be significant.
According to a study conducted by the European risk analysis company Prometea, 10% tariffs on imports could cost the Italian economy up to $7 billion, as the United States is the second largest market for the country’s exports after Germany. Caixabank analysts estimate Italy's exposure to the United States at about 4% of GDP, just behind Germany at 5%.
Along with her meetings with Trump, Meloni is also cultivating ties with Elon Musk, the Tesla boss who is expected to play a key role in the new Trump administration. In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, she described him as “a great figure of our time,” adding that he was a “genius” and was wrongly portrayed as a “monster.”
