Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – President Trump’s tariff threats and Musk’s global influence are worrying the EU, but Giorgia Meloni’s Italy might have a better shot with the new U.S. presidency.
Giorgia Meloni is one of the most solid leaders in Europe. As she approaches her midterm, her approval rates are above 40%, which is more than double that of France leader Macron and German Chancellor Scholz. She was also the only European leader invited to Trump’s inauguration, sitting next to Argentine President Javier Milei.
The U.S. and Italian leaderships share common views on certain topics. They both advocate for stricter national immigration policies, less green governmental initiatives and “dangerous gender ideology,” they say referring to LGBTIQ+ people’s rights, away from children.
Meloni also agrees with Trump’s demand to NATO members to invest more on military defense. The new US President is asking all partners to invest 5% of their GDP. As of 2024, some countries – Italy included – don’t even meet the 2% guideline yet.
Showing an alignment with Trump is also Matteo Salvini, Vice President of the Italian Council of Ministries and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport. On January 23, his party filed a proposal to drop Italy out of the World Health Organization “just like the United States did.”
Another link between the new U.S. administration and Italy is Elon Musk. In the past few years, Musk’s political views have drastically shifted right, and he was heavily involved in Trump’s latest presidential campaign. For now, the owner of X (formerly Twitter), Tesla and SpaceX CEO and co-head of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) of the United States, seems to have Meloni in his good graces.
“Giorgia Meloni is someone that I admire, who has done an incredible job as the Prime Minister of Italy. She is authentic, honest and truthful,” said Musk at the 2024 Global Citizens Awards.
After Trump’s win, Meloni called Musk “added value, someone who should and could be a counterpart to confront with.”
A deal with SpaceX could undermine the EU
On January 5, 2025, Bloomberg uncovered how advanced the talks are between Italy and Musk’s company SpaceX on a deal to provide telecommunications to the Italian government. According to Bloomberg’s anonymous sources, it already has Italian Intelligence Services and Defense Ministry’s approval.
Italian Minister of Defence Guido Crosetto denied the Ministry’s final approval of the plan. However, satellites with a wider coverage area are needed for military purposes, he said, and SpaceX is a valid option, also considering that the EU offer will not be ready before 2030 and it won’t be as advanced.
IRIS2, the EU multi-orbital constellation project, which is the European alternative to SpaceX, will only have 290 satellites, compared to Musk’s projected 40 thousands by then. However, a spokesperson for tech sovereignty, defence, space and research of the European Commission told Brussels Morning that the goal of IRIS2 is to provide satellites with a way longer life expectancy, so that it won’t be necessary to do weekly launches.
The Commission declines to comment on a possible agreement, but if it were to be signed, it probably wouldn’t be seen positively. In terms of strategic autonomy, it would undermine Brussels’ commitment to increase competitiveness and reduce the innovation gap, which has been emphasized a lot in the past few weeks precisely in light of Trump’s comeback.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella also raised concerns on the possibility of this agreement, stressing on securing data encryption, on the risks of a possible disruption of dataflow and of sharing antenna geolocation with an exponent of a foreign government.
To this day, the deal with Musk’s company has not been signed.
In case of a trade war, Italy is binded to the EU
The United States is the main commercial partner of the EU, followed by China and the United Kingdom. It is also one of the most profitable markets for Italian exports in particular. On day two of his second presidency, Trump threatened to hit the Union with tariffs by February 1st.
“The European Union treats us very very badly. They don’t take our cars at all, they don’t take our farm products essentially, they don’t take very much, so they’re gonna be in for tariffs. It’s the only way you’re gonna get fairness.”
“Overall we cannot say that the relationship is unfair,”
Brando Benifei, Chair of the EU Delegation for Relations with the United States, tells Brussels Morning. Even if it’s not perfect, it’s still quite balanced, he says, bringing up as an example the substantial American involvement in European security and defence.
The European Union is willing to discuss a rebalance of the trade relationship with the Trump administration, but it’s also ready to respond with tariffs on U.S. products as a last resource.
On this front, it’s not as convenient for Italy to act alone as it is for the United States.
“Trump uses a language of power and strength that a country like Italy, on its own, cannot wield as forcefully as it could with all its European allies,”
Comments MEP Benifei. Plus, despite Trump’s preference for bilateral agreements, trade outside the EU is an exclusive responsibility of the EU, rather than national government or member countries.
What to expect next?
We can’t know yet if Meloni’s apparently good relationship with Trump and Musk is going to be an asset for the EU or not. It seems to have potential for it, also considering that Italian interests are more important to the European Union, of which it is a member state, than to Donald Trump.
Meloni underlined that she doesn’t “take orders from anyone,” Musk included, and that Italian interests will always be her priority. For now, it seems like Italy will stay close to its European allies, while also leaving a door open to the United States for a more friendly dialogue.
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