BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
Vice President JD Vance met Friday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during a visit to Italy that combines Olympic pageantry with high-level diplomacy, as Washington and its European partners navigate an increasingly complex relationship under President Donald Trump’s second term.
Vance’s stop in Milan came as he attends events surrounding the Winter Olympic Games, using the global sporting stage to engage with one of the Trump administration’s closest political allies in Europe. The meeting took place at a moment when U.S.-European relations have been strained by Washington’s more disruptive approach to foreign policy, which has challenged long-standing assumptions that have guided transatlantic ties since World War II.
The vice president began the day at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, where he watched the opening session of the three-day team figure skating competition alongside his family and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. From there, he traveled to the Prefettura di Milano, a historic palace now serving as a municipal building, for a bilateral meeting with Meloni. The talks lasted roughly an hour and were followed by a private lunch closed to reporters.
Meloni opened the meeting with remarks in Italian before switching to English, joking that Vance likely did not understand what she had just said. The vice president responded with humor of his own, quipping that he had learned Italian since his last visit. He quickly conceded that he had not, noting that his most recent trip to Italy came in May, when he met Meloni in Rome following an audience with Pope Leo XIV.
“I was saying that I’m happy to have you here to have the occasion to talk about our wonderful bilateral relation,” Meloni said once she shifted into English. She added that the discussions would cover several areas of cooperation, while also highlighting the symbolic importance of meeting during the Olympic Games, which she described as events that reflect shared values binding Italy and the United States, as well as what she called the broader heritage of Western civilization.
As Meloni spoke, U.S. Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta entered the room and greeted Vance, remarking on the difficulty of navigating Milan amid heightened security and traffic disruptions tied to the Olympics. The scale of the Games has brought extensive road closures and logistical challenges across the city.
Vance’s office later said that he and Meloni also made a brief private visit to the Pinacoteca di Brera, one of Italy’s most renowned art museums, where they spent about half an hour viewing the collection.
According to a statement from the vice president’s office, the meeting focused on the strength of U.S.-Italian relations, cooperation surrounding the Olympics, and shared efforts to improve the business and investment climate between the two countries. Italy has positioned itself as a key partner for Washington within Europe, particularly under Meloni’s leadership.
Meloni has cultivated a notably warm relationship with Trump, visiting him at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in early January 2025, even before he was sworn in for his second term. Trump publicly praised her at the time, calling her a “fantastic woman,” and the two leaders have since exchanged frequent words of admiration.
That alignment has not been without limits. In recent weeks, Meloni has joined other major U.S. allies in Europe in opposing Trump’s proposal to seek control of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark and a fellow member of NATO, underscoring the balancing act she faces between ideological affinity and broader European consensus.
During the brief portion of Friday’s meeting open to the press, Vance and Meloni limited themselves to cordial exchanges and did not address policy disputes. Vance and Rubio also declined to answer shouted questions about ongoing talks between the United States and Iran.
“In the spirit of the Olympics — friendship, competition, competition based on rules, and coming together around shared values — we’re very, very thrilled to be here,” Vance said. “We’ll have a great conversation about a number of topics.” He added that attending the Games in Milan had been something he had looked forward to “pretty much since I became vice president.”
The meeting underscored how the Trump administration is using major international events like the Olympics not only to showcase American presence abroad, but also to reinforce key political relationships at a time of shifting alliances and renewed debate over the future of the transatlantic partnership.
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