The US Vice President JD Vance, on Friday, April 18, with Giorgia Meloni of Italy in Rome and then prayed in the duration of the Vatican a Easter visit in a context of transatlantic commercial tensions.
Vance’s visit, which also includes a meeting with the right hand of the Pope, arrives a day after Meloni with President Donald Trump and his number two in Washington on a quick trip destined to obtain a favorable tariff agreement.
An US trade war and Trump’s threatened tariffs could have a great impact in Italy, the world’s largest exporter, which sends about 10% of its exports to the United States.
Roma’s trip marks Vance’s first return to Europe since he delivered a combative speech at the Munich Security Conference in February, when he criticized EU members on cultural warfares while requested that the block “introduces” in the management of their own security.
But Vance Vance tweeted after his visit on Friday that he had a “great meeting” with the Prime Minister of Italy, a extreme right leader who shares many of his conservative opinions.
“I am grateful every day for this work, but particularly today where my official duties have taken me to Rome on Good Friday,” said Vance, who is Catholic.
In the comments from the letter to the press before his meeting, Vance said he would update Meloni about negotiations with the European Union on Commerce.
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On Saturday, Vance is scheduled to speak with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who as Secretary of State of the Vatican is the second highest official in the Holy See after Pope Francis.
‘Make the West great again’
Meloni was the first leader of Europe to visit Trump since he imposed 20% tariffs on EU exports, which has been suspended for 90 days.
The two leaders gave a warm tone during the day of a work lunch and a meeting in the Oval office, with Trump hosting the 48 -year -old Italian prime minister as “fantastic.”
In a joint subsurial statement, they said that Trump had accepted an invitation for an official visit to Italy “in the very close future”, with an American European meeting on the same time.
Meloni highlighted Trump’s only commercial war, Meloni highlighted his common land and said he wanted to “make the West out again.”
Meloni’s decision to intercede personally with Trump had caused some concern among EU’s allies, worried that his visit could undermine the unity of the block. While Trump expressed his confidence in a possible agreement with the 27 -nations block he accused of trying to “fuck” the United States, he said Thursday that he was not in “any hurry.”
Russia’s war in Ukraine, meanwhile, remained a delicate issue among American and Italian leaders. Meloni has been a firm ally of Ukraine and its president Volodyymyr Zensky since the invasion of Russia in 2022.
Trump, however, has surprised the allies with an axis to Moscow and repeated attacks against Zensky, whom he and Vance rebuked at a televised meeting of the Oval office in February.
With Meloni sitting next to him, Trump in Thorsday said: “I do not hold Zelensky, but I am not exactly excited about the fact that the war began,” and added that “he was not a great admirer” of the Ucinian leader.
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