sHe was welcomed to the White House with open arms as there have been few other foreign visitors since Donald Trump’s return. And Giorgia Meloni wanted to assure her hosts that they spoke a common language, at least in terms of their political worldview.
The Italian Prime Minister was keen to emphasize that although the Italian brothers have neo-fascism roots, she shared much with the man she had just welcomed as a “friend” “everyone loves and respects.”
Tariffs were a bit of a problem. But between friends? Hey, we can solve that.
Even if Italy boasted one of Europe’s biggest trade surpluses with the United States, such disagreements could be relied on the previous unprecedented beliefs of “Western nationalism,” Meloni confidently spoke in lightly accented English, but she was unsure if it was “the right word.”
“When I talk mainly about the West, I don’t talk about geographical space. I talk about civilization, and I want to make it stronger,” she said.
“So, even if there are some issues between the two Atlantic coasts, I think it’s time for us to sit down and try to find a solution.”
In the end, Meloni pointed out that when they came to one existential struggle, it would be “a battle with Adi.” [sic] An ideology that wants to erase our history. ”
The acronym was a bit confusing. Did she mean Day? But regardless, her audience got the general point.
Meloni, 48, is labelled “the whisperer of European Trump.” She spent time at Trump’s Florida home, Mar-A-Lago, and was the only European leader invited to his inauguration in January.
Here, in the oval office, whispers had a soothing effect. The president smiled lavishly and then went out for some “weaves,” during which he again attacked Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Joe Biden, for not cutting interest rates again.
But it was a standard Trump. The man with Ukrainian president, the publicly frowned Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and barely tolerated Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer on a White House visit was a photo of an elegant host.
Even JD Vance, who blew Zelensky’s visit away and even JD Vance, who blew almost the same thing to Starmer’s visit, kept his trap closed.
The disaster was then threatened.
Italian journalists insisted on the Prime Minister asking questions in his native Italian. Mama Mia!
Meloni was tired. They were not all assumed to be Western nationalists here, defenders of the same civilization. Why emphasize the difference?
She plays side by side reluctantly, her traits relax a bit as she embarks on the expanded discourse, but her body language betrays her, lifting her feet off the ground and one foot folds behind the other. Trump was watching her with great enthusiasm the whole time.
When she was finished, the American journalist tried to ask another question, but Trump blocked it: “No, wait, I want to hear what you said.”
Meloni’s female interpreter sat nearby and revealed, “Prime Minister Meloni was asked… what she thought about the fact that President Trump was responsible for the war in Ukraine.”
It was a disagreeable yet important moment. The Prime Minister knew that. As the interpreter tried to continue, Meloni probably felt this because she interpreted her own answer, particularly as she was stubbornly attached to Western support for Ukraine that Trump was on the verge of abandonment.
She restricted the explanation to vowing to raise Italian contributions to NATO, which is currently below 1.5%.
Then it was the president’s turn. “I am not responsible for Zelenskyy,” he said. Previous false accusations that Ukraine started the war. “But I’m not exactly excited by the fact that the war has begun. No one is happy with the people involved.”
If anyone was responsible, he went on, it was Biden – the default scapegoat of all mistakes – because after all, everyone knew that war would not have started even if he was still president.
President Putin, who was actually responsible for starting the war, was not responsible. “Now I’m trying to stop him,” Trump said.
The unfortunate Zelensky has had little charity as he is widely praised throughout the West as he is still standing to protect his country when he is under attack.
“I’m not blaming him, but what I’m saying is I don’t think he’s doing his biggest job.
It was a moment of how far the West center of gravity was away a few weeks after Trump returned to power. And it’s also uncomfortable for Meloni.
The conversation then shifted to a commonality of fighting migration. And it returned to whispers again.
