Giorgia Meloni’s presence at Donald Trump’s inauguration aimed to reinforce her status as a privileged interlocutor with the new US administration. But this position carries risks for Italy and the EU.

European leaders hope that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni can persuade U.S. President Donald Trump not to impose tariffs on the EU and to continue supporting Ukraine, according to the Financial Times on Thursday.

WASHINGTON DC, JAN 24 - United States President Donald Trump said "I like (Italian Premier Giorgia) Meloni a lot" on Friday when asked by a Mediaset reporter about whether his administration might go easy on Italy when it comes to imposing tariffs on EU goods.

Critics noted the meeting's absence, but ECR Secretary-General Antonio Giordano, who was in Washington with Meloni, played down its significance to Euractiv, stating Meloni spent four hours with Trump, a meeting that had a positive outcome.

The Meloni government relies on the cooperation of the Libyan government to block the departure of migrants crossing the Mediterranean.

Italy’s Giorgia Meloni has emerged as the US president’s favourite EU interlocutor, with hopes growing she could talk him out of a trade war.

Italy will work to strengthen dialogue between the European Union and the United States, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on congratulating President Donald Trump on his return to the White House. "Italy will always work to strengthen the dialogue between the US and Europe,

NEWS ANALYSIS. The blatant ideological convergence between the far-right Italian prime minister and the Donald Trump and Elon Musk duo could make the Italian leader the European bridgehead of a reactionary and nationalist international.

"Giorgia Meloni has better relations with Trump than any other (major ... or to do with Elon Musk", she told AFP. In terms of other EU interlocutors, the bloc's institutional leaders have struggled to get facetime with Trump and his incoming team.

President Donald Trump has given everyone at Davos something to talk about with his actions on the first day of his second term.

Among EU leaders, however, only Meloni is confirmed to have received a personal invitation to the event, bolstered by her personal relationship with Trump, whom she recently visited at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will attend U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington on Monday, her office confirmed on Saturday. Meloni will be one of the highest-profile European politicians to attend the event.