As Europe reels from Donald Trump\u2019s sabre-rattling \u2013 this time directed at Greenland \u2013 one leader is quietly stepping into the diplomatic gap.<\/p>\n
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, a conservative nationalist with rare access to both sides of the Atlantic divide, has positioned herself as a go-between as US relations with the European Union once again slide into turmoil.<\/p>\n
While other leaders lined up to criticise the US president over his threats to acquire Greenland, Meloni has emerged as Trump\u2019s self-appointed spin doctor in Europe, echoing his warnings about hostile actors in the Arctic, downplaying Trump\u2019s aggression, and urging her fellow European leaders behind closed doors to turn the other cheek. On Friday, she even said she hoped to \u201cfinally\u201d be able to nominate him for the Nobel peace prize.<\/p>\n
Since Trump\u2019s re-election, European capitals have been casting around for a \u201cTrump-whisperer\u201d \u2013 someone capable of mediating between an unpredictable White House and an increasingly anxious Europe. Meloni has carefully cultivated that role, and is arguably the closest mainstream European leader to Trump and his imperial court.<\/p>\n
On a personal level, Meloni got off to a good start with Trump. He welcomed her to his Mar-a-Lago estate, hailing her as a \u201cfantastic woman\u201d who has \u201creally taken Europe by storm\u201d, later praising her as an \u201cexceptional leader.\u201d Meloni was the only EU head of government to attend Trump\u2019s inauguration \u2013 a visit she brandished at home as proof of Italy\u2019s renewed clout in Washington. On a visit to the White House in April last year (pictured above), she said her goal was to work together to \u201cmake the west great again\u201d. Unlike other European A-listers, such as Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer, she has expressed interest in joining Trump\u2019s Board of Peace.<\/p>\n
More than other European leaders, there is also genuine ideological overlap, for example on immigration, national sovereignty over multilateralism, and opposition to \u201cwoke\u201d ideology.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have a good relationship based on trust,\u201d said Nicola Procaccini, an MEP for Meloni\u2019s Brothers of Italy party and co-chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group. \u201cShe is politically closer to the Republicans and the Trump administration than other leaders, which makes it easier to maintain good relations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meloni has previously impressed European allies with her mediation skills, most notably by persuading Hungary\u2019s prime minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n to soften his obstructionist stance at EU summits.<\/p>\n
She also has form when it comes to facilitating dialogue with Washington. When European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen found herself frozen out by Trump\u2019s circle, it was Meloni who helped arrange a meeting in Rome with JD Vance, after which the US vice president publicly suggested she could serve as a bridge between the US and Europe. Meloni has also claimed credit for persuading Trump to take seriously Italian-backed proposals for Ukraine security guarantees anchored in Nato\u2019s Article 5.<\/p>\n
The US vice president publicly suggested she could serve as a bridge between the US and EuropeThe US vice president publicly suggested she could serve as a bridge between the US and Europe<\/p>\n
Meloni has leaned heavily into that alignment in recent days, downplaying Trump\u2019s aggressive rhetoric on Greenland as a misunderstanding. She has acknowledged the territory\u2019s strategic importance and argued that Nato should do more to secure the Arctic against hostile actors. Earlier this month she insisted that Trump is not seeking to seize Greenland by force, which she said she \u201cwould not approve of\u201d, but is using \u201cvery assertive methods\u201d to draw attention to US security interests. Last week she even blamed Europe for escalating tensions by sending troops to Greenland \u2013 a move she claimed sent an unclear and potentially anti-American signal.<\/p>\n
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