Vance meets Italy's Meloni before Easter at the Vatican

Rome: US Vice President JD Vance on Friday met Italy s Giorgia Meloni in Rome and later prayed at the Vatican during an Easter visit against a backdro...

Rome: US Vice President JD Vance on Friday met Italy's Giorgia Meloni in Rome and later prayed at the Vatican during an Easter visit against a backdrop of transatlantic trade tensions.

Vance's visit, which also includes a meeting with the pope's right-hand man, comes a day after Meloni met President Donald Trump and his number two in Washington in a quick trip aimed at securing a favourable tariffs deal.

A US-EU trade war and Trump's threatened tariffs could have a major impact on Italy, the world's fourth-largest exporter, which sends around 10 percent of its exports to the United States.

The Rome trip marks Vance's first return to Europe since delivering a combative speech at the Munich Security Conference in February, when he lambasted EU members on culture war issues while calling for the bloc to "step up" in managing its own security.

But Vance tweeted after his visit Friday that he had a "great meeting" with Italy's premier, a far-right leader who shares many of his conservative views.