This is the bromance everyone saw coming: President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, smiling broadly at the White House as they take questions from the press following their meeting on Monday.
“[T]he prime minister, frankly, is with us today because of illegal immigration. Italy got tired of it. They didn’t want it any longer. The people of Italy have borne a great part of the burden for Europe through the course of the migration crisis,” said President Trump, speaking about a government that has only been in office for two months.
“I applaud the prime minister for his bold leadership, truly bold, and I hope more leaders will follow this example, including leaders in Europe,” added the president, calling Conte his “new friend.”
Conte responded in kind, calling Italy and the United States “twin countries,” adding that Italy is a “reference point” for the United States in Europe.
Trump reiterated his support for a government shutdown in the United States if Congress does not agree to fund the wall he would like to see being built at the U.S.-Mexico border, which he tweeted about on Sunday.
I would be willing to “shut down” government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018
He told reporters that he will “leave room for negotiation” if he fails to get the $25 billion he has requested by September for the wall.
“But I would be certainly willing to consider a shutdown if we don’t get proper border security,” said Trump.
Conte defended President Trump’s (by most accounts) antagonistic performance at the NATO and G7 summits, calling him “a great negotiator.” Trump again repeated his (disputed) claim that he single-handedly saved NATO:
“I went to NATO. It was essentially going out of business because people weren’t paying. It was going down and down and down,” said Trump, who has not been shy in heaping praise on Italy after March elections gave rise to right-wing/anti-establishment coalition government, with a largely xenophobic/anti-immigrant platform.
Earlier in the day, the president expressed his admiration on Italy’s anti-refugee stance, which has been harshly, breathlessly, criticized by human rights groups.
“I agree very much with what you are doing with respect to migration, and illegal immigration, and even legal immigration,” Trump told Conte in the Oval Offie, according to Reuters. “He has taken a very firm stance on the border, a stance that few countries have taken. And frankly he is doing the right thing in my opinion.”
The U.N.’s refugee agency and non-profit human rights legal association (who have brought a lawsuit before the European Court of Human Rights against Italy) are not of the same mind. There is increasing alarm over what is transpiring in Italy in Europe as hardline governments such as Italy’s newly-formed one, crackdown on irregular migration and refugees.
Conte, for his part, called his country’s approach to migration as “innovative” on Monday.
In May, Italy’s Five-Star Movement (MS5) party, led by Luigi Di Maio, joined forces with Lega Nord (Northern League, or the League), led by now Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini to form a coalition.
The new government has a mandate from voters who are frustrated with the European Union’s handing of immigration policies. They feel that Italy are carrying an unduly large burden for their country’s close proximity to Libya, an originating point of boats crossing the Mediterranean.
Prior to the elections, anti-immigrant and refugee rhetoric sentiment peaked and, indeed, moved beyond words when several attacks targeted African migrants there.
Only despite the fact that the number of those reaching Italy has dropped (thanks, in large part, to European Union deals with Turkey and ruthless Libyan militias), Italy’s anti-migrant and refugee stance has only hardened, with the government refusing to allow some humanitarian ships carrying refugees rescued at sea to even dock there.