ANALYSIS — “America first” met “Italy and Italians first” on Thursday at the White House, with tariffs atop the agenda as President Donald Trump huddled with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — suddenly a key European leader who could help close the trans-Atlantic trade chasm.
For the conservative Meloni, whose 2022 campaign slogan echoed Trump’s political mantra, there was much riding on her visit to Washington, with a senior White House official describing her as Trump’s bridge to a continent that was leery of his return and then sent into a fuss over his initially steeper-than-expected import duties, a list of which could return on July 9.
Trump’s trade war with allies and foes alike had been overtaken for much of this week by his mass deportation program — and a flap with Democrats and legal experts over the administration thumbing its proverbial nose at a Supreme Court directive to “facilitate” the return of a Maryland man deported to his native El Salvador and dubbed by Trump officials a “terrorist” and “gang member” without clear supporting evidence.
