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Original article: https://theconversation.com/italys-meloni-is-positioning-herself-as-bridge-between-eu-and-trump-but-will-it-work-254955
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni recently became the first European leader to visit the United States after President Donald Trump announced a new tariff regime on trading partners, including a 20% levy on imports from the European Union.
While those tariffs are currently on hold, the ongoing threat of them being enacted provided a telling backdrop for Meloni’s mid-April 2025 visit.
Controversial and often perceived by critics as calculating, Meloni has walked a tightrope between European Union solidarity and embracing far-right causes since becoming Italy’s prime minister in 2022. She was the only European leader to attend Trump’s inauguration in January 2025 and counts tech titan Elon Musk among her allies.
In many ways, Meloni reflects Europe’s own identity crisis: a regional power with global ambition. Italy, after all, was a founding pillar of the European Union, hosting the signing of the Treaties of Rome in 1957 establishing the European common market. Yet, for decades, Italy has often stood just outside the core of EU influence, overshadowed by the Franco-German partnership.
Still, when the moment is right, Italy knows how to wield its leverage, especially as a bridge between clashing camps in Brussels.
In Washington, Meloni made her pitch to Trump: a tighter ideological alliance over shared disdain for “woke” politics, diversity, equity and inclusion agendas, and lax immigration. She offered a sweetener – more Italian investment in the U.S. as a sop to the transatlantic trade dispute. But she also reiterated her and the EU’s support for Ukraine, a direct contrast to Trump’s skepticism to continued U.S. support in Ukraine’s conflict with Russia.
In so doing, Meloni has cast herself as someone who can serve both Brussels and Washington without burning bridges on either side. The gamble? That balancing act could backfire. Trump’s demands over trade and increased defense spending by NATO countries force Meloni to choose between appeasing Washington or staying in line with EU norms. Her overtures to Trump risk alienating key European allies who are wary of his disruptive politics.
In trying to play both sides, she could end up isolated from both – undermining Italy’s credibility and influence on the world stage.
Simona Granati/Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images
Meloni as a bridge
The story of modern Italy has been one of playing off sides.
During the Cold War, Italy walked a fine line between NATO commitments and accommodating a powerful domestic Communist Party.
Italy was regularly governed by a series of often fraught center-right coalitions that were forced to navigate fractious politics and quid pro quo political violence between the far right and far left. The center-right Christian Democrats that dominated this period married conservatism at home with a strong pro-European outlook.
In the first decades after the Cold War ended, Italy continued to carve out its own lane – pushing for leniency on issues like immigration and fiscal rules. The period saw Italy oscillate between pro-European integration and bouts of euroscepticism, with successive governments frequently challenging Brussels over budgetary constraints or border management.
Meloni’s own rise is deeply rooted in the post-2015 tensions, when Italy – overwhelmed by the Mediterranean migrant crisis – felt abandoned by its European partners. Her party’s hard-line stance on immigration capitalized on public frustration. While she now presents herself as firmly pro-EU, it’s a version of Europe that aligns with her own vision: more secure borders, stronger national sovereignty and less technocratic interference.
Ironically, as the bloc itself drifts rightward on migration, Meloni’s positions no longer seem so fringe – perhaps allowing her to embrace the EU pragmatically, even as she critiques it ideologically. Meloni’s own background and rise reflect this ambiguity and duality. Emerging from a political movement with fascist roots, she now presents herself as a passionate Europeanist and pacifist while maintaining right-wing positions on immigration and cultural issues.
Meloni has governed in that fashion: cultivating ties with conservative heavyweights like Trump and right-wing European leaders, pushing back against Brussels on contentious policy issues, but also remaining firmly committed to the European project when it suits her. Especially when the economy is at stake.
Meloni as pragmatic European
Meloni’s strongly nationalist rhetoric and right-wing cultural views might appear at odds with the EU’s purpose, but her approach to the continent is highly pragmatic.
While she regularly critiques EU bureaucracy at home, her government remains the largest recipient of EU recovery funds, securing €191.5 billion (US$218 billion) from the EU’s post-COVID recovery plan program. That critical cash infusion for an aging country with persistently sluggish growth comes with a commitment to enact a series of stringent fiscal reforms and austerity measures by 2026. In addition, Italy continues to benefit from long-standing cohesion and structural funds, particularly the economically struggling south,.
Meanwhile, Meloni’s support for Ukraine helps her stand apart from pro-Russia voices in her coalition and strengthens Italy’s standing with NATO and the EU. It’s another strategic move that boosts her credibility both at home and abroad. Far from being a fringe player, Italy under Meloni is central to the EU’s narrative of unity, solidarity and survival.
A spaghetti Western alliance?
While Meloni reconciles her nationalist views vis-a-vis the supranationalist EU, she has also prioritized selling her idea of Italy on a bilateral basis.
That has largely focused on a shrewd charm offensive in the U.S., particularly since the return of Trump, whose right-wing administration provides any easy fit for Meloni. She has attempted to play both Trump and Musk to Italy’s advantage, leveraging Rome’s geopolitical position to secure economic agreements and ease tensions wrought by Trump tariffs, which Meloni called “wrong.”
Trump has been quick to praise her stance against “anti-woke” politics, while Meloni promises to help resolve trade issues and boost U.S. gas imports, all while keeping Italy at the forefront of negotiations. With Musk, she has attempted to position Italy as a key partner in tech and energy, navigating the global game with both finesse and ambition.
Italy runs a substantial trade surplus with the U.S. and underspends on NATO defense – two things that typically trigger Trump’s criticism. Yet with Meloni, Trump has been full of admiration: “She’s taken Europe by storm,” he said in April, agreeing during their last meeting to meet again in Rome in the near future.
Thierry Monasse/Getty Images
Meloni’s diplomatic ambitions extend beyond the U.S., including making moves in the Middle East, particularly with Saudi Arabia. By promoting Italy as a gateway to Europe, she is securing key investments in energy and infrastructure, while boosting Italian exports and increasing her diplomatic leverage. The fact that many in Europe, and indeed Italy, eye such overtures toward Saudi money with distaste, appears neither here nor there. After all, in Italy there has long been an attitude among leaders that “money does not smell” – or “pecunia non olet” as the locals say – a phrase that by legend was uttered by Emperor Vespasian while slapping a tax on public urinals.
Will all roads lead to Rome?
While Meloni’s approach of casting Italy as a bridge between the U.S. and Europe may yield some short-term diplomatic gains, it’s nonetheless a delicate path fraught with risk. Cozying up to Washington under Trump, whose policies – especially on trade – have engendered widespread outrage in Europe, risks ruffling feathers in Brussels. Indeed, while Trump praised Meloni’s leadership, and both sides talked trade with no urgency on tariffs, Europe watched warily.
Trying to navigate between Trump’s protectionist leanings and the EU’s collective trade stance could leave Meloni unable to satisfy either side. Should Trump push for concessions – like shrinking Italy’s trade surplus with the U.S. or increasing defense spending – Meloni may find herself at odds with EU standards and alienating European partners. But leaning too far into EU alignment – and the bloc’s commitment to Ukraine – risks souring her ties with Trump’s camp, potentially weakening her influence across the Atlantic.
In trying to please both Washington and Brussels, Meloni could end up with enemies on both fronts – and very few wins to show for it.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
