JD Vance, the US vice-president, will visit Italy just before Easter, giving the Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni a chance to argue for lower tariffs and rebuild her role as a bridge between the US and Europe.
The visit was confirmed by Antonio Tajani, the Italian foreign minister, who said it was “obvious” that tariffs would be on the agenda.
An Italian government source told The Times the date of Vance’s trip was not yet confirmed, although Italian media has reported April 18-20 as likely, with a meeting with Meloni on April 19 — evidence of the Italian leader’s close ties to the Trump administration.
Giorgia Meloni denounced Trump’s tariff announcement on Wednesday
TIZIANA FABI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Meloni, the only EU leader to attend President Trump’s inauguration, has forged a friendship with Elon Musk and has said she shares Vance’s argument that Europe has lost its democratic mission due to its habit of barring hard-right politicians from office.
But she was also quick to denounce Trump’s tariff announcement on Wednesday, calling the 20 per cent imposed on the EU as “mistaken and of no benefit to either side”.
Italy’s food and wine producers are clamouring for her to procure a discount, among them prosecco makers who have seen US sales rise by 51 per cent in the last four years, reaching over 124 million bottles a year, accounting for 19 per cent of Italy’s entire prosecco output.
The Italian prime minister faces the choice of pushing for a bilateral deal with Vance or throwing her lot in with Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, who has threatened bloc-wide “countermeasures’ against Trump’s tariffs.
In a TV interview on Thursday Meloni struck a more conciliatory note, arguing that “frank” talks were needed with the US about “removing tariffs, not multiplying them”.
On Thursday Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper reported she may organise a video call with Von der Leyen and Vance while he is in Rome.
Italian media suggested that Vance, who is Catholic, was timing his visit to coincide with Easter and would participate in services at the Vatican on April 20, on Easter Sunday.
A meeting with Pope Francis is unlikely, however, given the 88-year-old pontiff’s convalescence after a near fatal bout of pneumonia.