In a spectacle fit for the tabloids, Giorgia Meloni made her entrance to the White House dressed head-to-toe in white, seemingly playing the part of a “dove” to telegraph her intentions to Trump through her attire. The meeting that unfolded was nothing short of a surprising display of submission in the presence of the man who recently ignited a trade war against Europe and Italy itself.
For over an hour and a half, Meloni, the self-proclaimed “patriot,” astonishingly failed to utter a single word in defense of her homeland, let alone the European Union. Instead, she sat there beaming, apparently placated by Trump’s flattering remarks (“she’s a great person”), while offering not a whisper of a novel idea, suggestion, or any remotely substantial action. The silence was deafening, stripped of substance.
This void of policy discussion was perhaps unsurprising, considering Meloni’s lack of experience in international diplomacy and European negotiations. Her contributions were an avalanche of clichés and banal formalities: “Together the US and Europe are stronger.” It’s the kind of platitude any entry-level diplomat might spill, lacking any distinctive vision or strategy.
She extended an invitation to Trump for an official visit to Europe, promising a red-carpet reception and then exuberantly proclaimed, “He accepted!” One wonders, at what cost?
Meloni further boasted, “I am sure that we can find a halfway agreement,” a hollow phrase devoid of grounding context. She went so far as to pledge that “Italian companies will invest 10 billion in the US,” a vow seemingly conjured from thin air for some added flair.
The climax of this farce arrived with her declaration of unity with the US in combatting “woke ideology”—an invented enemy that had no relevance to the meeting’s agenda, yet irresistible in its populist appeal.
The sole tangible outcome from this summit was Meloni’s compliance with Trump’s demand to hike Italy’s military expenditure to 2% of GDP—conveniently aligning with Trump’s wishes.
In stark contrast to leaders like Macron and Sanchez who position themselves on the international stage with gravitas, Meloni’s performance was woeful, yet predictably glossed over by her media affiliates, aggrandizing it into an “international triumph” as we speak.
The spectacle was expected to end with mere obsequiousness towards her new global counterpart. Yet, perhaps Trump was correct in one aspect—the encounter wasn’t solely about playing second fiddle…
With each utterance and each nod of consent, Meloni etched another scandalous chapter into the annals of contemporary political theater.
