Italy's Meloni confirms White House visit with Trump before Easter

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday confirmed reports that she plans to meet President Donald Trump at the White House on April 17 to discuss the tariff conflict between the United States and Europe.

There has been speculation in the Italian media on a meeting of this kind taking place before Easter, which falls this year on Sunday April 20. Meloni's office has not confirmed the date.

According the Italian daily La Repubblica, Meloni is to arrive in Washington on Wednesday April 16 and meet Trump the next day.

Meloni, whose right-wing policies align with Trump's in many respects, was one of few European leaders invited to Trump's inauguration in January and had visited him earlier at his Florida residence. She and Hungary's Viktor Orbán are seen as among Trump's favoured European leaders.

US Vice President JD Vance is expected in Rome on April 18.

While Meloni has been critical of the tariffs on European Union exports imposed by Trump, she has striven to maintain good relations with the president.

In a recent Financial Times interview she acknowledged there were grounds for the Trump administration's criticism of the EU and said that protectionism and tariffs had not been invented by Trump. She offered herself as a bridge builder.