WASHINGTON DC, JAN 24 - United States President Donald Trump said "I like (Italian Premier Giorgia) Meloni a lot" on Friday when asked by a Mediaset reporter about whether his administration might go easy on Italy when it comes to imposing tariffs on EU goods.

He hails a fantastic woman sweeping all before her in Europe. She praises a strong and shrewd defender of the West. Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni are fast forging a new transatlantic "special relationship".

Giorgia Meloni’s presence at Donald Trump’s inauguration aimed to reinforce her status as a privileged interlocutor with the new US administration. But this position carries risks for Italy and the EU.

After forging unexpectedly fond ties with President Biden, Italy’s right-wing Premier Giorgia Meloni is poised to leverage a more natural alliance with incoming President Trump that positions her as a key interlocutor between the U.

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will attend U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday, officials from her office said on Friday, in a trip that should further strengthen her ties with the U.S. leader.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose rise to power in Rome two years ago sparked panic among the European political establishment, may now be the continent’s best hope to have one of its own in the good graces of the Trump White House.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is one of just a handful of world leaders to have been invited to Mar-a-Lago since his election victory last November — but whether she can be Europe's "Trump whisperer" is more complicated.