President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni both expressed optimism during a White House meeting on Thursday about an eventual trade deal between the United States and Europe.
“There will be a trade deal, 100 percent,” Trump promised. “Of course there will be a trade deal. They want to make one very much and we are going to make a trade deal, I fully expect it, but it will be a fair deal.”
Meloni, the first European leader to visit the White House since Trump imposed and then paused a sweeping tariff regime against the European Union, noted that she couldn’t negotiate on behalf of the entire 27-member bloc but suggested that frank conversations would pave the way for an eventual agreement.