-Analysis-
ROME — The practical results of Thursday’s bilateral meeting between Giorgia Meloni and Donald Trump are perhaps the “easy” part of the Italian prime minister’s American visit. The White House will have to grant her some positive takeaway, seeing as the international isolation of the U.S. at this moment is so deep that Trump will want to demonstrate that he has some friends left out there in the world.
But the rest is what counts. And the rest is the Italian objective of maintaining an equilibrium between the two sides of the Atlantic, an idea that is unlikely to be able to hold up in the coming weeks. With each passing day the U.S. pulls the tightrope tighter and raises the stakes higher.
Three days ago was the showdown on relations with China, with which Italy is strengthening partnership agreements. The day before that was the announcement on pharmaceutical duties, which will hit Italian companies hard. On Tuesday, there was the unfortunate “No” to the document denouncing the Sumy massacre of Ukrainian civilians on Palm Sunday. That tightrope that Meloni has been walking is really getting too tight, and may about to break.
Holding a line
Meloni and her government have long benefited from an original (or anomalous, if you prefer) position with respect to the emerging scheme of international alliances. Partly with Europe and partly with those who want to demolish it, friends of Europe’s establishment center-right but also of the MAGA nationalist through Meloni’s old allies, supporters of Ukraine but up to a certain point because of right-wing allies like Matteo Salvini who have sympathies for Russia.
For two years we’ve seen an Italy that sought to maintain a line beyond the parties, and often succeeded, without completely displeasing anyone. That individual play was possible, even advantageous at some stage.
But now? The questions of defense, rearmament, the response to tariffs, European emancipation from “permanent vassalage” with the U.S. (according to JD Vance’s definition), — all of these tensions will require decisions.
Taking responsibility
Everyone must ultimately have to take responsibility for joining a side and dealing with the consequences.
It is likely that Giorgia Meloni’s American Easter week serves above all for achieving this clarity, to understand what she should do. The enormous risks of European isolation are very clear to her, so much so that she has worked successfully to demonstrate that her mission is supported by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and aims to facilitate the EU’s dialogue with the White House.
Dishonor would result from supporting the American stance on Kyiv
Equally evident is the dishonor that would result from supporting the American stance on Kyiv and the electoral repercussions linked to excessive acquiescence on tariffs. On the other side there is the ideological attraction of Trumpism, a bull in the China shop, as a high-ranking ally interviewed by the Il Foglio daily defined it, but still their bull.
Trump is the singular beast that has overwhelmed the left everywhere, bulldozing their universities, their intellectuals, their woke do-goodism, and tolerance for immigration. All are people and positions that the Italian prime minister has been dedicated to dismantling her entire political life.
Thus in the end, the choice that Meloni must make boils down to this: motivations of the head on the one hand, motivations of the heart on the other. We shall see.
