From investment in the US to the purchase of LNG, here's what Meloni is banking on to convince Trump

Thus the rumours of a possible shift on the table of the Council of Ministers on Friday, when the Prime Minister returns from Washington, are flatly denied by the government. Every scenario is subject to careful evaluation, even more so after the outcome of the talks in the Oval Office. Also on Friday, Trump's deputy, JD Vance, will be in Rome. He will see Meloni, Salvini and Tajani, but has no plans for a meeting with the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, hospitalized at the Santo Spirito in Rome for the implantation of a pacemaker. Meanwhile, he reserved a new lunge for Europe, which cannot be "the permanent vassal of the United States in terms of security. Most European nations,' Vance added, 'do not have armed forces capable of guaranteeing reasonable defence'. Among the exceptions he cited Great Britain, France and Poland. Not Italy.

The face-to-face meeting with Trump is a complex game, therefore, that has been in the works for weeks at Palazzo Chigi, where non the late afternoon of Tuesday 15 April the prime minister met the deputy prime ministers Matteo Salvini and Antonio Tajani and the ministers Giancarlo Giorgetti, Guido Crosetto and Tommaso Foti. Shortly before, in front of an audience of businesspeople who have been on edge for weeks over the duties announced and then suspended by Trump, the premier admitted that 'it's a difficult moment, let's see how it goes in the next few hours. I don't feel any pressure as you can imagine for my next two days...', she added with a hint of forced irony thinking of what Tajani called 'a trade peace mission'.

The Prime Minister said she was 'aware of what I represent and I am aware of what I am defending'. To be defended are Italian and European exports, which risk paying dearly for American trade barriers, but also, according to her, the unity of the West. Because, her thesis remains, a trade war is not in the interests of either the US or the EU. 'With exports we also produce wealth for others,' Meloni noted, 'and it is good for everyone to continue to deal with Italy, because Italy is able to produce well-being, excellence and wealth. The entrepreneurs 'are with you,' Confindustria president Emanuele Orsini assured the premier, hoping that with Trump 'you will find a positive synthesis for Europe.

And it is in the European framework, with a series of constant contacts in recent days with Ursula von der Leyen, that Meloni has built the strategy to convince Trump to dialogue. Although so far, after the first round of confrontations with EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, the European proposal for a transatlantic free market has been rejected by the Americans. While the tug-of-war between the US and China is becoming more and more striking.

On the NATO dossier, government sources explain, a technical reconnaissance is underway to identify new spending chapters that can be included to reach the 2 per cent of GDP quota, e.g. cybersecurity. The calculations should be concluded shortly, but to achieve the result it is not excluded that further allocations will be needed. The NATO issue was also addressed by Meloni in her meeting with the Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Store, who recalled that they have already exceeded the 3% mark, and agreed with the Italian Prime Minister that "how we defend ourselves and what we defend ourselves against should be the starting point, not just figures and percentages". Meloni assured the US president that Italy is ready to reach the 2 per cent target by putting another 10 billion for defence in the coming months and will support the further increase that the NATO summit will establish, presumably setting it at 3.5 per cent. A further increase in expenditure that in Italy is now worth over 30 billion.

It must be understood to what extent Italy can buy liquefied natural gas, which is one of Trump's requests to rebalance the trade deficit with the EU, and arms from the United States, going along with the strategy that is taking shape in Brussels to avert a trade war. On the LNG front, Brussels said it was ready to strengthen the diversification of energy sources, after the gradual detachment from Russian gas, and stressed that 'the US is absolutely one of the options'.

Another issue is the delicate positioning of Europe between the two great rivals: the US and China. On this, Meloni's mission to the States is read as a clear indicator of the pushes underway. Beijing is aiming to exploit discontent with Trump to wedge itself between the two sides of the Atlantic. Meloni could reiterate to Trump how Italy will insist that the EU Commission revise the Green Deal, starting with a postponement of the stop on the sale of endothermic engine cars, set for 2035. And, in turn, it could be called upon to provide explanations on the web-tax and other regulations that Americans dislike.

French government ministers warned that Meloni could undermine EU unity by going to Washington alone, but the European Commission, which is responsible for negotiating trade deals, welcomed Meloni's trip. Trump's sudden decision last week to suspend most global tariffs for 90 days has relieved some of the pressure on Fdi's lader, meaning she will not feel the need to come back with a deal, but rather to create the right environment for an understanding.

After the meeting in the Oval Office on the 17th, Meloni will immediately return to Italy, because on the 18th the American vice-president J.D. Vance is expected in Rome. The third round will then be the trip to the States by Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti to meet his American counterpart.