U.S. President Donald Trump has agreed to an official visit to Rome and will consider also meeting representatives of the European Union while there, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Thursday in the Oval Office. Meloni's U.S. trip came amid a tariff row between Washington and Brussels and was seen as an attempt to facilitate dialogue and leverage the good relationship between the two leaders following a U.S. decision to pause most duties for 90 days.

Trump called Meloni - who was the only EU leader invited to his inauguration in January - a "very special person" and "a friend" who "has taken Europe by storm", while the Italian leader said they both shared the fight against "woke" ideology.