Politics

Flattery, Firmness, and Flourishes

World leaders and diplomats quietly swap strategies for managing Trump.

First published in The Atlantic on July 14, 2025

by Ashley Parker and Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Atlantic
July 17, 2025 | reading time: 10 Min.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s April visit to the White House was, by all accounts, a success. She soothed President Donald Trump with dulcet talk of “Western nationalism,” eased through a potentially awkward moment regarding Ukraine, and invited Trump to visit Rome—extracting a promise that he would come in the “near future.”

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