The US president says prospect of a trade deal with the EU is \u2018100 percent\u2019, praising the Italian prime minister as \u2018fantastic\u2019.<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni<\/a> have expressed optimism about a possible United States-European Union tariffs deal as the two leaders met at the White House, as economic uncertainly roils the market.<\/p>\n Meloni has cast herself as the only European who can de-escalate Trump\u2019s trade war, and she has highlighted their conservative common ground, declaring that she wants to \u201cmake the West great again.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere will be a trade deal, 100 percent,\u201d Trump declared on Thursday, while Meloni said she was \u201csure\u201d they could reach a deal.<\/p>\n The two leaders struck a warm tone during a working lunch and a meeting in the Oval Office, with Trump hailing the 48-year-old Italian leader as \u201cfantastic\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2018Banking on Meloni\u2019<\/p>\n Al Jazeera\u2019s Alan Fisher, reporting from the White House, said European leaders \u201care banking on Meloni\u201d to make the bloc\u2019s message to Trump \u201csound a little bit better\u201d.<\/p>\n Meloni is the first European leader to visit the Republican since he slapped 20 percent tariffs on EU exports, which he has since suspended for 90 days.<\/p>\n The Italian leader said Trump had accepted an invitation to visit Rome in the \u201cnear future\u201d and that he might also meet European leaders there.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if we have some problems between the two shores of the Atlantic, it is the time that we try to sit down and find solutions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Meloni highlighted their shared views on immigration and \u201cwoke\u201d ideology and added: \u201cThe goal for me is to make the West great again, and I think we can do it together.\u201d<\/p>\n But while Trump expressed confidence about an eventual deal with the 27-nation bloc he has accused of trying to take advantage of the US, he said he was in \u201cno rush\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody wants to make a deal \u2013 and if they don\u2019t want to make a deal, we\u2019ll make the deal for them,\u201d Trump added.<\/p>\n In an interview with Al Jazeera, Federiga Bindi, professor at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, said that Meloni is in a challenging position balancing the interest of Italian voters while also trying to please the whole European bloc.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Meloni is trying to apply the lessons from [former Italian Prime Minister Silvio] Berlusconi. Just like she is today, he was an outcast of European politics. [Berlusconi] leveraged his relationship with George W Bush,\u201d Bindi explained.<\/p>\n \u201cBerlusconi managed to pull it. I am not sure if Meloni can manage to pull it [with Trump]. What\u2019s different is that Berlusconi had a real friendship with Bush, which is pretty impossible to have with Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Get smart\u2019<\/p>\n