{"id":270486,"date":"2025-03-31T05:58:05","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T05:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/31\/as-tensions-escalate-between-trump-and-europe-meloni-is-caught-in-the-middle\/"},"modified":"2025-03-31T05:58:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T05:58:05","slug":"as-tensions-escalate-between-trump-and-europe-meloni-is-caught-in-the-middle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/31\/as-tensions-escalate-between-trump-and-europe-meloni-is-caught-in-the-middle\/","title":{"rendered":"As Tensions Escalate Between Trump and Europe, Meloni Is Caught in the Middle"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/27\/multimedia\/00int-italy-meloni-01-bthg\/00int-italy-meloni-01-bthg-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"As Tensions Escalate Between Trump and Europe, Meloni Is Caught in the Middle\" title=\"As Tensions Escalate Between Trump and Europe, Meloni Is Caught in the Middle\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Amid raucous questioning by opposition members in Italy\u2019s Parliament this month, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni noted that she had been asked repeatedly: \u201cAre you with Europe or with the United States?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The prime minister responded that she was always with Italy and by extension, Europe. \u201cI don\u2019t blindly follow Europe or the United States,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cBut I\u2019m also for the unity of the West, and I think that is necessary for both Europe and Italy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Just a couple of months ago, when President Trump was inaugurated, Ms. Meloni seemed perfectly positioned to be a bridge between him and Europe. She was the only European leader at his inauguration, matched his hostility toward liberal ideals, befriended Elon Musk and seemed eager to land the role.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Instead, as tensions between Europe and Washington escalate, she finds herself caught in the middle, balancing her ideological affinity with Mr. Trump with the need for Italy to help bolster the continent\u2019s security and economy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It is not clear that Mr. Trump, who is openly antagonistic toward Europe, wants a bridge. In addition, the leaders of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/15\/world\/europe\/uk-europe-trump.html\" title=\"\">Britain<\/a> and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/13\/world\/europe\/macron-europe.html\" title=\"\">France<\/a>, both outweighing Italy as nuclear powers, have sought the role of liaison between Europe and the White House for themselves.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As Europe <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/19\/world\/europe\/europe-military-spending.html?searchResultPosition=1\" title=\"\">ratchets up<\/a> military spending and girds for a potential trade war, Ms. Meloni continues to preach pragmatism while trying to avoid choosing sides. The balancing act could become harder to sustain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Each new crisis with Mr. Trump \u2014 over a possible peace deal with Russia, over NATO, over tariffs \u2014 further underscores Ms. Meloni\u2019s eroding middle position, analysts said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cShe is cleverly not taking sides until she is obliged to do it and hoping that she is never obliged to do it,\u201d said Giovanni Orsina, the head of the political science department at Luiss Guido Carli University in Rome.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But he added, \u201cIf the Atlantic alliance gets into greater stress and there is a distancing between the U.S. and Europe, this position will be more difficult to hold.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Once a fringe firebrand with political roots in a party born from the ashes of fascism, Ms. Meloni has cast herself as a credible leader in Europe, largely thanks to her unwavering support for Ukraine and NATO.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Domestically, she has thrown occasional bones to her hard-line base, including by introducing a \u201cuniversal\u201d ban on surrogacy, while simultaneously steering a conservative fiscal policy that allayed the worst fears of European leaders. Some called that pragmatism, while others accused her of \u201cdoppiezza,\u201d Italian for \u201cduplicity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On the international stage, Ms. Meloni has become a bundle of contradictions: an Italian nationalist seemingly in tune with Mr. Trump\u2019s hard-right international movement leading a country whose lot is inextricably tied to the fate of Europe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the past couple of months, her main tool in not alienating either Washington or Europe was a studied silence, or when that proved impossible, anodyne calls for the West to maintain its strength through its traditional unity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now, she increasingly tries to have it both ways.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Meloni\u2019s comments to the Italian Senate before a late March summit of European leaders in Brussels were some of her most extensive about the multiple controversies stirred up by Mr. Trump and his administration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A staunch supporter of Ukraine, Ms. Meloni endorsed Mr. Trump\u2019s effort to negotiate a cease-fire, calling it \u201ca first significant step in a path that must lead to a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But while she has upheld her commitment to providing security guarantees to Ukraine, she has been less vocally supportive of President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After he was berated by Mr. Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office in early March, she did not, like other European leaders, rebuke the president and express her support for Mr. Zelensky. Instead, Ms. Meloni responded to the fiery exchange by calling for a U.S.-Europe summit. No such meeting occurred.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">She has criticized the response of some European leaders to the Trump administration as \u201ca bit too political\u201d and suggested that it is \u201cchildish\u201d to expect Italy to have to chose between Europe and the United States. While Italy would gladly help Europe avoid a confrontation, she said in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/96d02345-1079-47d0-b208-1e80bcedf684\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">an interview<\/a> with The Financial Times published on Friday: \u201cI\u2019m not interested in saying, \u2018I\u2019m the one in the middle, I\u2019m a protagonist.\u2019 Not now. The stakes are too high.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Unlike France and Britain, which have led the effort to organize a European force for Ukraine, Italy rejected the idea of deploying its troops.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As Mr. Trump threatens to withdraw the U.S. commitment to Europe, Italy has largely backed the idea that Europe must invest in rearming. Although Ms. Meloni has described the United States as Italy\u2019s closest ally, Rome\u2019s relatively low military spending might create friction with Mr. Trump. It falls below the 2 percent of gross domestic product required by NATO guidelines, not to mention the 5 percent pushed by Washington. One of her coalition partners adamantly opposes any increase.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On tariffs, Ms. Meloni has called for moderation and negotiation. She warned that retaliatory tariffs could set off a \u201cvicious circle\u201d in which everyone loses, driving up inflation and restricting economic growth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI am convinced that we need to work concretely and with pragmatism to find common ground and avoid a trade war that would not benefit anyone,\u201d Ms. Meloni said in Parliament.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For now, Ms. Meloni\u2019s relations with Mr. Trump and his team seem good, even if no White House visit has been announced.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Trump praised Ms. Meloni in late February, calling her \u201ca wonderful woman\u201d and noting that \u201cItaly has got very strong leadership.\u201d Ms. Meloni <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GiorgiaMeloni\/status\/1894125877753008513\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">reposted Mr. Trump\u2019s comments on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In turn, she has lauded both Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance, as she did in a live address by video at the annual CPAC conference near Washington, where she has been a regular speaker for years. She underscored their shared political agenda and characterized Mr. Trump\u2019s re-election as a major development in the rise of global conservatism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">How long her balancing act can last is the question dogging her.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the seaside town of Viareggio, Italy, the spectacular annual carnival parade is famous for political satire. This year one float featured a 50-foot statue of the prime minister. The float\u2019s creator, Alessandro Avanzini, had dressed the figure of Ms. Meloni in a pink suit jacket, swaying inside a pair of oversize gray jodhpurs of the kind once favored by the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Avanzini said that he had left it deliberately unclear whether Ms. Meloni was donning the jodhpurs or shedding them. Various spectators said that accurately reflected the current political discussion in Italy surrounding the ambiguity at which the prime minister excels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cShe is very clever at understanding when she has to wear them,\u201d said Stefania Giusti, 48, an agricultural project manager.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhen she is meeting Trump, she puts them on, but when she goes to Brussels, she takes them off,\u201d Ms. Giusti said. \u201cBut I do not think that she can go on like this for long.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Elizabeth Djinis<!-- --> and <!-- -->Virginia DiGaetano<!-- --> contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/31\/world\/europe\/italy-meloni-trump-europe-tensions.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amid raucous questioning by opposition members in Italy\u2019s Parliament this month, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni noted that she had been asked repeatedly: \u201cAre you with Europe or with the United States?\u201d The prime minister responded that she was always with Italy and by extension, Europe. \u201cI don\u2019t blindly follow Europe or the United States,\u201d she [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/27\/multimedia\/00int-italy-meloni-01-bthg\/00int-italy-meloni-01-bthg-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7001,163575,2534,11042,896,164056,3096,164053,156,169367,37415,862,6039,163751,137131,571,52,163486,81146,34139,8774],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270486"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270486"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":270488,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270486\/revisions\/270488"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}