Italy’s populist prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, told President Donald Trump on Thursday that she believes, together, they can “make the West great again.”
Meloni visited Trump at the White House on Thursday, where the leaders shared a bilateral lunch and meeting. Speaking with the press in the Oval Office after the meeting, Meloni told Trump her aim is to restore greatness to Western civilization.
“I know that when I speak about [the] West mainly, I don’t speak about a geographical space. I speak about the civilization, and I want to make that civilization stronger,” she told Trump. “So I think even if we have some problems, okay, between the two shores of the Atlantic, it is the time that we try to sit down and find solutions.”
Meloni thanked Trump for accepting an invitation for “an official visit to Rome in the near future, and consider a possibility in that location to meet also with Europe.”
“The goal for me is to make the West great again, and I think we can do it together,” she added.
“We can,” Trump responded with a smirk.
Meloni also detailed a number of bilateral topics she and Trump discussed during their meeting, including those related to economics, defense, space, and energy, noting that Italy will increase liquified natural gas imports. Trump said earlier that they also discussed trade during their meeting.
Trump heaped praise on Meloni at the top of the press gaggle, saying she is “doing a fantastic job.”
“I would say that she has taken Europe by storm and highly respected,” Trump said. “Everybody loves her and respects her, and I can’t say that about many people. And she’s become a friend, and we really have a great relationship between Italy and ourselves.”
The meeting comes as Trump and the European Union paused newly announced tariffs on each other for 90 days as trade negotiations unfold.
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