U.S. President Donald Trump agreed on Saturday to meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, her spokeswoman said, amid a mounting trade war between Europe and the U.S.
The agreement came after the two leaders briefly spoke at the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome on Saturday, with video footage showing them shaking hands and briefly talking.
“In their brief exchange, President von der Leyen and President Trump agreed to meet,” spokeswoman Paola Piñho said in a post on X. It wasn’t clear when the two would meet or what they would discuss.
In their brief exchange, President von der Leyen and President Trump agreed to meet. https://t.co/2UA60vfNJb
— Paula Pinho (@Pinhopau) April 26, 2025
Until Saturday, the two leaders hadn’t met since before Trump’s inauguration in January, with Trump appearing to deliberately — and repeatedly — snub the European leader in favor national leaders such as Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni.
The need for a diplomatic meeting is particularly acute for the European Union, which faces tariffs of 20 percent on all its exports to the U.S., plus 25 percent duties on automobiles, steel and aluminum, if it is unable to work out a new trade deal with Trump by the summer.The EU itself has threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. but has held off since Trump granted trading partners a 90 day reprieve earlier this month. The U.S. has still maintained 10 percent tariffs on all European goods, with EU leaders hoping to bring the level down to zero on both sides.
The agreement to meet comes a little over a week after Meloni paid a visit to Washington in the hope of securing a meeting between Trump and the EU chief.
The Trump administration hasn’t yet confirmed that a meeting was arranged.
The post Von der Leyen, Trump to meet after brief interaction at pope’s funeral appeared first on Politico.
