For Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s role amid increasing transatlantic tensions is to work to defend the unity of the West. She finds the notion that Rome must choose between Washington and Brussels “childish” and “superficial.” Instead, she says, it is in “the interest of everyone”—including Italy—that the two sides of the Atlantic stick together. Meloni’s attempts to help Europe and the United States reset the terms of their alliance since U.S. President Donald Trump’s second inauguration and his aggressive and transactional approach have surprised many. She had been expected to emulate Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and go it alone, scapegoating the EU and leaning into her personal affinities with Trump and billionaire businessman Elon Musk.
Can Meloni Save the Transatlantic Alliance? | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
