Trump puts Italy’s Meloni in high-pressure role as bridge to EU on tariffs

“America first” met “Italy and Italians first” on Thursday at the White House, with tariffs atop the agenda as President Donald Trump huddled with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — suddenly a key European leader who could help close the trans-Atlantic trade chasm.

For the conservative Meloni, whose 2022 campaign slogan echoed Trump’s political mantra, there was much riding on her visit to Washington, with a senior White House official describing her as Trump’s bridge to a continent that was leery of his return and then sent into a fuss over his initially steeper-than-expected import duties, a list of which could return on July 9.

Trump’s trade war with allies and foes alike had been overtaken for much of this week by his mass deportation program — and a flap with Democrats and legal experts over the administration thumbing its proverbial nose at a Supreme Court directive to “facilitate” the return of a Maryland man deported to his native El Salvador and dubbed by Trump officials a “terrorist” and “gang member” without clear supporting evidence.

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