During Donald Trump’s first term in office, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni was a fringe far-right politician who ardently admired the US president but wielded little clout at home – let alone in Europe.

Now, European leaders are counting on Meloni – a “fantastic woman”, according to Trump – to persuade the US president to hold back on his threat to hit the EU with tariffs to force it to spend more on defence and American energy.

Financial Times