Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday that the EU must take a pragmatic approach with the incoming Trump administration in order to head off a trade war between Europe and the US.

The EU has been bracing for trade problems ever since the recently re-elected Trump vowed to impose tariffs of 10% to 20% on imports from all foreign countries — apart from China, which will face a 60% tariff if his proposals become reality.

Italy’s right-wing leader Meloni appears to have forged a friendship with Trump in recent months, with the pair posing for photos and praising each other, which could make her one of his closest EU allies, especially given the political crises in Germany and France.

“It is essential to maintain a pragmatic, constructive and open approach towards the new Trump administration, using areas of potential and fruitful EU-US cooperation and trying to prevent commercial disputes that wouldn’t benefit anyone,” Meloni told Italy’s parliament in a speech ahead of the European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Trump warned during his election campaign that the EU would “pay a big price” for supposedly not buying enough US exports, including American cars, considering that the 27-country bloc “sells millions and millions of cars in the United States”.

During his previous term as president, Trump described Europe as a “foe” of the US.

Data from the US Census Bureau shows that the EU exported $576.3 billion (€549.2 billion) worth of goods to the US in 2023 — representing about 20% of the bloc’s total exports — for a goods trade surplus of $208.6 billion (€198.8 billion).

Last month, the EU’s ambassador to the US, Jovita Neliupšienė, said that the bloc was ready to respond to any renewed trade disputes with the US that could arise under Trump’s incoming administration. However, she did not specify any possible measures.

Regarding Trump’s tariff threats, Meloni has previously said that the EU should focus on setting its own affairs in order rather than worrying about the US.

“Don’t ask what the US can do for you, ask what Europe should do for itself,” Meloni said ahead of a EU leaders’ meeting in Budapest last month, paraphrasing Trump’s presidential predecessor John F. Kennedy.

“Europe must find a balance,” she added. “I’m thinking of the issues of competitiveness, tariffs.”

Meloni and Trump dined together earlier this month at an event organised by French President Emmanuel Macron to mark the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Trump reportedly described Meloni as a “real live wire” and later said he was ready to work with her, calling her “a fantastic leader and person”. In a post on X last week, Meloni shared a video of Trump’s comments and wrote, “Thanks (to Trump) for the kind words”.

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President-elect Trump on Monday described the recent fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime as an “unfriendly takeover” orchestrated by Turkey. 

“I think Turkey is very smart,” he said from a press conference at his Florida residence. “Turkey did an unfriendly takeover, without a lot of lives being lost. I can say that Assad was a butcher, what he did to children.”

Assad fled to Russia just over a week ago after the al Qaeda-derived organization dubbed Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rapidly took over western Syria in an offensive that began on Nov. 27, first taking Aleppo, Hama and Homsc, before seizing the capital city of Damascus. 

ASSAD PAINTS HIMSELF AS ‘CUSTODIAN’ TO SYRIA AS PICTURE UNFOLDS ON COLLAPSE OF DAMASCUS

The future of Syria, for both its government and its people, remains unclear as the HTS organization, deemed a terrorist network by the U.S. but which has the backing of the Turkey-supported Syrian National Army (SNA), looks to hold on to power. 

The fall of the Assad regime has meant an end to the nearly 14-year civil war that plagued the nation, though the threat against the U.S.- backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is not over as Turkey continues to view it as one of its chief regional adversaries. 

The SDF have assisted the U.S. in its fight against ISIS for more than a decade, but Turkey, which shares a border with Syria, has long viewed the group as being affiliated with the extremist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and which, through the SNA, has clashed with the Kurdish-led forces. 

President-elect Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP/Evan Vucci)

It remains unclear how the Kurds will fair under a potential HTS regime, but Western security experts are increasingly concerned that Turkey could have an outsized amount of influence on the neighboring nation. 

“The fall of Assad greatly amplified Turkey’s influence in Syria, giving unprecedented influence to his partners and proxies. If the United States wants to ensure that Syria has the best chance to become a reasonably free and stable country, it needs to keep a very close eye on [Turkish President Recep] Erdogan,” David Adesnik, vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.

Comrades attend the funeral of five fighters of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces who were killed during clashes with Turkish-backed opposition factions, in Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Dec. 14, 2024. (Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images)

TURKEY HITS US-ALLIED KURDS IN SYRIA, IRAQ FOLLOWING TERRORIST ATTACK ON DEFENSE GROUP

Last week, the U.S. brokered a cease-fire agreement between the SDF and the SNA over the northeastern city of Manbij, where SDF coalition forces agreed to withdraw from the area after resisting attacks since Nov. 27, according to a Reuters report. 

But sources told Fox News Digital on Monday that negotiations relating to the cease-fire had collapsed and that the SNA had begun building up military forces west of the Kurdish town of Kobani – roughly 35 miles east of Manbij – in an apparent threat to resume combat operations.

The terms of the cease-fire remain unclear, and neither the White House nor the State Department responded to Fox News Digital’s questions.

According to a statement released by the SDF, the mediation efforts by the U.S. failed to establish a permanent truce in Manbij-Kobani regions due to Turkey’s “evasion to accept key points,” including the safe transfer of civilians and Manbij fighters.

“Despite U.S. efforts to stop the war, Turkey and its mercenary militias have continued to escalate over the last period,” the SDF said.

A spokesperson for Turkey’s U.N. Mission did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

“The re-eruption of tensions around Kobani underlines the extent to which Assad’s fall has ‘opened the gates’ for Turkey and its SNA proxies in northern Syria,” Charles Lister, director of the Syria and countering terrorism and extremism programs at the Middle East Institute (MEI), told Fox News Digital. “For the first time, they’re free to act without a green light from Assad or Russia.”

Anti-regime fighters stand on the roadside as displaced Syrian Kurds drive vehicles loaded with belongings on the Aleppo-Raqqa highway, fleeing Aleppo, on Dec. 2, 2024. (Rami Al Sayed/AFP via Getty Images)

The dynamic between the SDF and SNA forces, backed by Washington and Ankara, respectively, has long proved difficult to maneuver given that both the U.S. and Turkey are allies in NATO.

“After the loss of Tel Rifat and Manbij in recent weeks, the only possible obstacle to further SDF losses is the presence of U.S. troops – but Turkey’s role within NATO has always limited U.S. options,” Lister explained.

“[U.S. Central Command Gen. Michael’ Kurilla’s recent visit and the SDF’s willingness to cede Manbij spoke to the unprecedentedly isolated position the SDF currently faces,” he added in reference to a visit Kurilla made to Syria last week. “If the SDF is going to survive these challenges, it’s going to need to be extremely flexible, willing to concede on major issues, and rely heavily on U.S. diplomacy with Turkey.”