Giorgia Meloni’s presence at Donald Trump’s inauguration aimed to reinforce her status as a privileged interlocutor with the new US administration. But this position carries risks for Italy and the EU.

European leaders hope that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will persuade U.S. President Donald Trump not to impose tariffs on the EU and to continue supporting Ukraine, writes the "Financial Times" on Thursday.

Italy’s Giorgia Meloni has emerged as the US president’s favourite EU interlocutor, with hopes growing she could talk him out of a trade war.

Italy will work to strengthen dialogue between the European Union and the United States, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on congratulating President Donald Trump on his return to the White House. "Italy will always work to strengthen the dialogue between the US and Europe,

He hails a fantastic woman sweeping all before her in Europe. She praises a strong and shrewd defender of the West. Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni are fast forging a new transatlantic "special relationship".

Among EU leaders, however, only Meloni is confirmed to have received a personal invitation to the event, bolstered by her personal relationship with Trump, whom she recently visited at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.