Italy's Meloni says Trump will visit Rome and consider meeting EU

By Angelo Amante

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has agreed to an official visit to Rome and will consider also meeting representatives of the European Union while there, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Thursday in the Oval Office.

Meloni's U.S. trip came amid a tariff row between Washington and Brussels and was seen as an attempt to facilitate dialogue and leverage the good relationship between the two leaders following a U.S. decision to pause most duties for 90 days.

Trump called Meloni - who was the only EU leader invited to his inauguration in January - a "very special person" and "a friend" who "has taken Europe by storm", while the Italian leader said they both shared the fight against "woke" ideology.

"I want to thank President Trump for having accepted an invitation to pay an official visit to Rome in the near future and consider the possibility, on that occasion, to meet also with Europe," Meloni said speaking next to the U.S. leader.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has so far not been given a meeting with Trump, meaning that she has to rely on others to promote EU interests.

Earlier this month Meloni - a right-wing nationalist who has deep admiration for Trump - called U.S. tariffs "wrong" but during the meeting with him she said she was at the White House to make the West "stronger".

Some in Europe feared that Meloni could use the meeting only to defend her national interest rather than representing the whole 27-nation bloc, but she made clear she could not lock in deals on behalf of the EU, which has responsibility on trade.

She said Italy will have to increase its imports of liquified natural gas (LNG) and said Italian firms would invest billions of dollars in the U.S. in the coming years.

Meloni denied talks with Trump over possible deal between Elon Musk's Starlink and Rome for encrypted satellite communications, but said Italy would work with the U.S. on Mars missions.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Alistair Bell)