But Ferracci argued that such a visit risks playing into Trump’s strategy, which the French minister claimed is aimed at preventing a united European response to the U.S. president’s severe tariff regime that has brought the world to the brink of an all-out trade war.

Trump imposed huge 20 percent tariffs on the European Union that took effect Wednesday, but by the evening he had announced a temporary pause in tariffs above 10 percent for most U.S. trading partners. On the same day, the bloc’s 27 countries agreed to apply retaliatory tariffs on nearly €21 billion of U.S. products like soybeans, motorcycles and orange juice.

Italy’s Europe minister, Tommaso Foti, was quick to react on Wednesday, accusing France of being hypocritical.

“How come when President Macron goes to Washington everything is OK, but when it is Meloni who goes, things are not OK?” he said, according to Italian media.

In a separate interview with French public television, Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad also stressed that Europe’s strength lies in its unity in response to a question about Meloni’s visit.

“If you go to the United States scattered and divided, do you think you’re stronger than if you go all 27, with 450 million people?” the French minister asked.