From Nigel Farage to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, EU politicians are competing for the privilege of being Europe’s Trump whisperer.

Giorgia Meloni’s presence at Donald Trump’s inauguration aimed to reinforce her status as a privileged interlocutor with the new US administration. But this position carries risks for Italy and the EU.

In contrast, Ms Meloni is the leader of a nationalist party with protectionist instincts. ■ For more expert analysis of the biggest stories in economics, finance and markets, sign up to Money Talks, our weekly subscriber-only newsletter.

Migrants in Tunisia are being sold as slaves to Libyan gangs for as little as £10 per person with the complicity of the EU, a damning report claims. They are rounded up in towns and cities in Tunisia, kept in detention centres and then sold to militia and traffickers on the border with Libya.

European leaders hope that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni can persuade U.S. President Donald Trump not to impose tariffs on the EU and to continue supporting Ukraine, according to the Financial Times on Thursday.

Among EU leaders, however, only Meloni is confirmed to have received a personal invitation to the event, bolstered by her personal relationship with Trump, whom she recently visited at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

"Giorgia Meloni has better relations with Trump than any other (major ... or to do with Elon Musk", she told AFP. In terms of other EU interlocutors, the bloc's institutional leaders have struggled to get facetime with Trump and his incoming team.

Italy has resumed sending illegal migrants to its new Albania processing centre as Giorgia Meloni, the country’s prime minister, attempts to circumvent the European Court of Justice (ECJ...

Italy’s Giorgia Meloni has emerged as the US president’s favourite EU interlocutor, with hopes growing she could talk him out of a trade war.

President Donald Trump has given everyone at Davos something to talk about with his actions on the first day of his second term.

(MENAFN- The Conversation) Giorgia Meloni was the only leader of a European ... as a LINK between Brussels and Washington within the EU framework. This rapprochement seems to obey different ...