Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is looking to build up a relationship with Joe Biden by pledging to break with China and plans to brief the U.S. president in person Thursday on the delicate choreography of that split.
Officials in Rome have been privately reassuring the U.S. that she will exit a controversial investment pact with China, yet Meloni is not planning to go public on her decision to pull out during her short trip to Washington, according to people familiar with her thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The idea is that the U.S. will interpret the distancing from Beijing as proof of loyalty and that the White House will understand that taking more time for the long-expected announcement will help Italy to negotiate a friendly exit, limit trade retaliation and show that Meloni is driving the decision.