 "US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte amid negotiations to end the Russian war in Ukraine, at the White House. Reuters File")
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni privately defended Donald Trump to EU leaders this week, urging caution in dealing with the US president and warning against escalating conflict with America, according to a Politico report, citing sources briefed on the discussions.
At a Brussels summit on Thursday, Meloni told her EU counterparts that fighting Trump would be counterproductive, as “Europe has everything to lose from a conflict with America,” reported Politico, citing four anonymous officials who spoke to the media.
She encouraged leaders not to dismiss Trump as “crazy or unpredictable,” a description some officials have used privately given his whirlwind start to 2026 in international affairs.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking after the summit, said the leaders had learned that responding to Trump in a “firm” but “non-escalatory” manner was effective and should continue.
The emergency EU summit was called in response to Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on eight European countries for opposing his demand to take control of Greenland from Denmark. The crisis dominated discussions in Brussels and other European capitals, with leaders meeting Thursday evening to outline a strategy.
Following threats of trade retaliation from the EU and negative market reactions, Trump backed down and expressed interest in an amicable deal regarding Greenland.
Reports of Meloni’s intervention suggested she favored a more cautious, diplomatic approach compared with other leaders at the table. On Friday, she hosted German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Rome to discuss expanding defense and industrial cooperation.
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View AllEU leaders also agreed to reconvene next month for a “strategic brainstorming” session to navigate a new world order marked by great power rivalries and a diminishing role for international law.
“Our impression was that a large majority of leaders really identified the last weeks as a turning point, and that Europe should act quickly on several fronts to be able to defend its core interests,” a fifth source familiar with the discussions said, adding that there were “no illusions that the crisis is over.”
With inputs from agencies