What The Hell America!

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a litmus test for U.S.-European Union trade relations, a blow to LGBTQ rights in the United Kingdom, and Russia detaining four independent journalists.

The Pressure Is On

On Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will become the first European leader to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump since the White House imposed sweeping reciprocal tariffs on virtually all of its trading partners. Her Oval Office visit will represent a litmus test for the future of U.S.-European relations as Brussels gambles on Meloni’s friendly relationship with Trump to secure a trade deal.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a litmus test for U.S.-European Union trade relations, a blow to LGBTQ rights in the United Kingdom, and Russia detaining four independent journalists.

The Pressure Is On

On Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will become the first European leader to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump since the White House imposed sweeping reciprocal tariffs on virtually all of its trading partners. Her Oval Office visit will represent a litmus test for the future of U.S.-European relations as Brussels gambles on Meloni’s friendly relationship with Trump to secure a trade deal.

The European Union is hoping to take advantage of Trump’s 90-day pause on most reciprocal duties to negotiate better trade terms and lessen U.S. levies on auto imports as well as steel and aluminum.

“I am feeling no pressure for my next two days,” Meloni joked on Tuesday ahead of her state visit. The far-right prime minister is one of the few European leaders who Trump appears to like, as the two share similar ideological views on issues such as immigration and promoting a so-called anti-woke agenda. Meloni also has a close relationship with tech billionaire and Trump advisor Elon Musk.

While Brussels has tried to frame Meloni’s upcoming talks as “extremely positive,” many in the European Union are not as trusting of the Italian leader’s agenda. Italy is one of the European countries most vulnerable to a U.S. trade war; with an Italian trade surplus of more than $43 billion in 2024, U.S. tariffs could decrease Rome’s GDP by 0.4 to 0.6 percentage points over the next two years, affecting more than 50,000 jobs.

This makes Meloni’s trip to Washington essential not just for the greater European Union, but also for Italy specifically. If Meloni fails to reach a trade deal, then her reputation as being favored by Trump could collapse. But if she secures benefits for Italy rather than the larger bloc, as some in her coalition have demanded that she do, then she could hurt the EU’s bargaining power in the future.

Meloni told the Financial Times in March that the idea of having to choose between the United States and Europe is “childish” and “superficial.” However, she has also said that she will defend her country’s interests, adding on Tuesday that “I am aware of what I represent, and I am aware of what I am defending.”

A fresh round of U.S.-EU trade talks on Monday garnered little progress, with the Trump administration appearing unwilling to accept zero-to-zero tariffs as well as European promises to purchase more U.S. liquified natural gas. Meloni has separately suggested that Italy could boost its defense spending to fulfill NATO requirements and pledge more large-scale investments in the United States, including with the potential sale of an Italian border protection system, to appease the White House.

“This is the moment of truth for our prime minister,” Italian opposition lawmaker Carlo Calenda said. “We will see whether she is a leader that keeps the European front united, or if she will give in to the flattery of the U.S. president.”

On Friday, Meloni will fly back to Rome to host U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance for more trade talks.

Today’s Most Read

What We’re Following

A blow to LGBTQ rights. The U.K. Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Wednesday that the legal definition of a woman is a “biological woman and biological sex,” effectively excluding transgender women and nonbinary individuals. This means that only cisgender women (or people born with female anatomy) can be protected from discrimination under the United Kingdom’s 2010 Equality Act. The court emphasized that it is not commenting on whether transgender women are women, even if they have a gender recognition certificate.

The ruling marks a major loss for LGBTQ rights, and it could have detrimental consequences for access to single-sex services in the United Kingdom—such as changing rooms, communal accommodations, and domestic violence shelters—as well as access to equal pay and maternity protections.

The court’s decision is just the latest in a slew of recent anti-LGBTQ measures to sweep across Europe. Last August, Bulgaria issued changes to the country’s national education act to ban so-called LGBTQ “propaganda” in schools. And on Monday, Hungary passed a constitutional amendment that defines all Hungarians as either male or female while also reinforcing a ban on public LGBTQ Pride events.

Kremlin press crackdown. Russian officials convicted four journalists on Tuesday of extremism for allegedly associating with the Anti-Corruption Fund, a group founded by late opposition leader Alexei Navalny and which the Kremlin has labeled an extremist organization. A closed-door Moscow court sentenced each journalist to five and a half years in prison.

The reporters—Antonina Favorskaya, Konstantin Gabov, Sergei Karelin, and Artyom Kriger—all pleaded not guilty, saying they were just doing their jobs. Favorskaya and Kriger worked for independent news outlet SOTAvision, Karelin was a freelancer who contributed to The Associated Press and Germany’s Deutsche Welle, and Gabov was a freelancer who contributed to Reuters, Deutsche Welle, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Dozens of journalists have fled Russia in recent years to evade arrest, as the Kremlin has repeatedly cracked down on the free press and voices critical of President Vladimir Putin. The four reporters sentenced on Tuesday were among those who remained in the country to report on sensitive issues, including the detention and death of Navalny at a penal colony in the Arctic Circle; Favorskaya shot the last known video of Navalny the day before he died on Feb. 16, 2024.

Evading prison. Former Peruvian First Lady Nadine Heredia requested asylum at the Brazilian Embassy in Lima on Tuesday, the same day that she and her husband, former President Ollanta Humala, were each sentenced to 15 years in prison for money laundering. It is unclear whether Heredia entered the embassy before or after the court ruling, as she was not present during the final proceedings. Heredia arrived in the Brazilian capital of Brasília on Wednesday.

Prosecutors charged Heredia and Humala with receiving millions of dollars in illegal contributions from the Venezuelan government and Brazilian construction company Odebrecht to finance Humala’s election campaigns in 2006 and 2011. Both defendants have denied any wrongdoing, and Humala’s lawyer said he plans to appeal the decision.

Humala was the first of four presidents to be investigated for alleged involvement in the Odebrecht scandal. Former Peruvian Presidents Alan García, Alejandro Toledo, and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski also faced allegations or were convicted of accepting bribes from the Brazilian company.

Odds and Ends

For the O&Es fans who enjoyed watching the Netherlands’ “fish doorbell,” World Brief has another animal livestream to recommend. On Tuesday, Sweden kicked off Season 6 of The Great Moose Migration, a hit reality TV show that provides live 24-hour coverage of moose in search of summer grazing pastures. The 20-day event attracts millions of viewers each year—now also including at least one FP reporter.