Overview

• Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with U.S. President Donald Trump on April 17, securing his agreement to visit Italy and potentially expand the trip to Europe.
• Meloni’s visit to Washington resulted in a 90-day pause on U.S. tariffs targeting the EU, as she navigates balancing Italy’s EU commitments and ties with the U.S.
• Vice President JD Vance, acting as the Trump administration’s international envoy, met with Meloni in Rome on April 18 and Vatican officials on April 19, including Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher.
• Vance’s Vatican visit follows Pope Francis’s February criticism of U.S. migrant policies, highlighting ideological differences between the administration and the Vatican.
• Vance is set to continue his diplomatic mission in India, underscoring his central role in the administration’s cultural and trade outreach efforts.