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AFP
WASHINGTON
US President Donald Trump hosted Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the White House Monday, welcoming to a European populist with like-minded views on immigration and trade.
The visit began with a handshake and a smile from Conte at the West Wing portico.
Trump said in the Oval Office that it was a"great honour" to host Conte, and praised the Italian leader for doing a"fantastic job," noting they met and became friendly at the recent G7 summit in Canada.
Conte has"taken a very firm stance" on immigration, said Trump, who has pursued a"zero tolerance" policy at the US border, a crackdown that led to hundreds of children being separated from parents who crossed into the country from Mexico without papers.
Conte was chosen to lead the Italian government by the leaders of parties that won elections in March: the euro-skeptic Five Star Movement and the far-right League party.
The Italian press has suggested the White House meeting will serve to boost Conte, who is often overshadowed by his deputy prime ministers and those parties' exuberant leaders: Matteo Salvini of the League party, and Luigi Di Maio of the Five Star Movement.
Salvini however stole some of the attention Sunday by posting a controversial message on Facebook --"many enemies, much honour" -- that echoed a well-known saying by Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini on the anniversary of the latter's birthday.
Conte is on a drive to reform European Union regulations that say asylum requests should be the responsibility of a single member country, usually the one where the refugee first arrived.
