In a Cabinet Room meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, President Trump was asked about possible tariff deals between the U.S. and Italy.
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00:00Mr. President Trump, Mr. President, I like her very much regarding Prime Minister Georgia
00:09Will she be the one to mediate your relationship with Europe, do you think?
00:14Well, I do like her very much. I think she's a great Prime Minister. I think she's doing a fantastic job in Italy.
00:19We're very proud of her. I knew her right from the beginning.
00:22I knew her as a very early Prime Minister and I knew she had great talent.
00:27She's one of the real leaders of the world.
00:29And I'm very proud to be with her.
00:32I can't do better than that, right?
00:35Yes.
00:36We can close the press conference.
00:41We should end the press conference.
00:44Yeah, please, go ahead.
00:47Prime Minister, how quickly can you raise your defense spending?
00:51Oh, well, Italy is the sum of the nation now that it raised 2%, which has those requests.
01:00It'll go up.
01:01Yes, it'll go up.
01:02And then Europe, as you know, it's...
01:06It's never enough.
01:08Europe, as you know...
01:09It's never enough.
01:10Europe, as you know, is committed to do more.
01:13It's working on tools to allow and help the member states in increasing the funds spending.
01:19And we are convinced that everyone has to do more.
01:23Prime Minister, are you ready...
01:25Are the retaliatory tariffs that were passed before and then suspended still on the table?
01:29No, sorry.
01:30Please repeat it.
01:31The retaliatory tariffs that the European Commission passed and then suspended, are they still on the table if you cannot make a deal with the President Trump?
01:38I'm sure we can make a deal.
01:40And I'm here to help with that.
01:42I cannot do a deal in the name of the European Union.
01:46My goal would be to invite President Trump to pay an official visit to Italy and understand if there's a possibility when it comes to organize also such a meeting with Europe.
01:59I think the best way is that we simply speak frankly about the needs that every one of us has and find ourselves in the middle.
02:07That's useful for all.
02:09I really...
02:10Somebody calls me such a Western nationalism.
02:13I don't know if it is the right word.
02:15But I'm sure that to make us stronger.
02:19And I have to find a way.
02:21I'm here to find the best way to make us both stronger on the two shores of the Atlantic.
02:28We're going to have very little problem making a deal with Europe or anybody else.
02:34Because we have something that everybody wants.
02:37You know what that means, right?
02:38We have something that everybody wants.
02:40We're going to have very little problem.
02:41So we'll see you in a couple of minutes.
02:43We'll be right there in the Oval Office.
02:45Thank you very much.
02:46Thank you very much.
02:47Thank you very much.