Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will travel to Washington next week to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on April 17 to discuss escalating trade tensions between the United States and the European Union, her office confirmed Tuesday.
The visit, first reported by Italian daily La Repubblica, is expected to begin on April 16, with the meeting taking place the following day at the White House. The timing follows weeks of speculation in the Italian press about a high-level meeting ahead of Easter, which falls on April 20 this year. Meloni’s office has not yet confirmed her full travel itinerary.
The meeting comes amid growing European concerns over sweeping new U.S. tariffs on EU goods. Trump’s administration has announced tariffs of 20% on most European exports, with additional duties of 25% on key products like aluminum, steel, and automobiles. EU officials have signaled that retaliatory measures could follow later this week if no deal is reached.
Meloni, whose right-wing policies closely align with Trump’s, has criticized the tariffs but warned against escalating the situation through EU-level countermeasures. In a recent interview with the Financial Times, she acknowledged that Trump’s grievances with the EU were not without merit and emphasized the need for diplomacy over confrontation.
“Protectionism and tariffs were not invented by Donald Trump,” she said, offering herself as a bridge between Europe and Washington. She warned that retaliation could spark a trade war that would harm Italy, which holds the EU’s third-largest trade surplus for goods after Germany and Ireland.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance is also expected to visit Rome on April 18, in a sign of ongoing dialogue between the two governments.
Meanwhile, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani urged the EU on Monday to consider delaying counter-tariffs set to take effect Wednesday. EU officials have largely agreed to pursue negotiations with Washington, though a first round of retaliatory measures is still expected to move forward this week.
Meloni was one of the few European leaders invited to Trump’s inauguration in January and previously met with him at his Florida residence. Along with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, she is considered one of Trump’s closest European allies.
