British News Agency

Meloni is the first European leader to visit Washington since Trump imposed a 20% tariff on the EU in early April and later paused it for 90 days. She hopes to convince him of the benefits of a "zero for zero" tariff deal for the entire EU.

Italy is particularly vulnerable to shifts in U.S. trade policy.

Roughly 10% of Italy's exports, valued at about 67 billion euros ($76 billion), go to the U.S., Italy’s third-largest trading partner outside the EU. The tariffs announced by Trump earlier this month prompted Rome to cut its growth forecast in half.

Before departing, Meloni said: “We know this is a difficult time. We’ll do our best. I know who I represent and what I stand for.”

Trump and Meloni are known to have a good relationship and have praised each other in the past. Trump described Meloni as a “wonderful woman” who has “truly swept across Europe.”

Meloni, who has led a right-wing coalition government since 2022, is ideologically closer to Trump than to some of her European peers.