WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the White House as the U.S. is kicking off new trade talks with the European Union.

Trump will welcome Conte to the Oval Office for the Italian prime minister's first trip to Washington since he took over the country's new populist government.

Trump and EU officials averted escalating a trade dispute last week and are expected to start negotiations aimed at avoiding tariffs on automobiles and removing trade barriers.

Conte leads the euroskeptic coalition of the 5-Star Movement, which considers itself anti-establishment, and the right-wing, north-based League party.

The White House has noted that Italy is an important NATO ally and a key partner to U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. </s> President Donald Trump is hosting Italy's new prime minister Giuseppe Conte at the White House.

The two met for the first time at the Group of Seven summit in Quebec, Canada back in June. President Trump raised eyebrows when he told reporters that Russia should be a part of the group. While many leaders voiced their concerns with the idea, Conte backed Trump's call to readmit Russia to the G-7.

Conte, a political outsider, was chosen as prime minister by his peers in parliament and appointed by the Italian president, rather than being elected. No party won a majority of the vote in the election, forcing parties to form a coalition government.

USA TODAY NETWORK will provide live coverage of the joint presser in the player above. </s> President, Donald J. Trump, chats with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the G7 Leaders Summit. (Photo: FILIPPO ATTILI / CHIGI PALACE PRESS OFFICE HANDOUT, EPA-EFE)

President Donald Trump is hosting Italy's new prime minister Giuseppe Conte at the White House.

The two met for the first time at the Group of Seven summit in Quebec, Canada back in June. President Trump raised eyebrows when he told reporters that Russia should be a part of the group. While many leaders voiced their concerns with the idea, Conte backed Trump's call to readmit Russia to the G-7.

Conte, a political outsider, was chosen as prime minister by his peers in parliament and appointed by the Italian president, rather than being elected. No party won a majority of the vote in the election, forcing parties to form a coalition government.

USA TODAY NETWORK will provide live coverage of the joint presser in the player above.

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2v0Isds </s> President Donald Trump waits for the arrival of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Monday, July 30, 2018.

President Donald Trump meets with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, July 30, 2018, in Washington.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's meeting with Italy's Giuseppe Conte (all times local):

President Donald Trump is praising Italy's new premier for his handling of immigration issues and says the two leaders will discuss trade and the military.

Trump says at the start of his meeting with Italy's Giuseppe Conte at the White House that Italy "has taken a very firm stance on the border." Trump says other European countries should follow Italy's lead on migration issues.

Under Conte's new government, Italy has pushed for the European Union to accept tens of thousands of migrants coming across the Mediterranean Sea every year.

Trump is noting the U.S. trade deficit with Italy and says he's sure "we'll straighten that out pretty quickly."

Conte thanked Trump for his "warm hospitality." In response, Trump told him "you'll always be treated warmly."

President Donald Trump is meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the White House as the U.S. is kicking off new trade talks with the European Union.

Trump will welcome Conte to the Oval Office for the Italian prime minister's first trip to Washington since he took over the country's new populist government.

Trump and EU officials averted escalating a trade dispute last week and are expected to start negotiations aimed at avoiding tariffs on automobiles and removing trade barriers.

Conte leads the euroskeptic coalition of the 5-Star Movement, which considers itself anti-establishment, and the right-wing, north-based League party.

The White House has noted that Italy is an important NATO ally and a key partner to U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump endorsed Italy's handling of immigration issues Monday as he welcomed the country's new premier to the White House for talks on trade and the military.

Trump said at the start of his meeting with Italy's Giuseppe Conte that the country's new populist government "has taken a very firm stance on the border." The president said other European countries should follow Italy's lead on migration issues.

"I agree very much what you're doing with respect to migration, illegal immigration and even legal immigration," Trump told Conte in the Oval Office.

Italy under Conte's new government has pushed for the European Union to accept tens of thousands of migrants coming across the Mediterranean Sea every year. The meeting follows a recent standoff over a private aid boat carrying more than 200 people who were rescued at sea. Italy, Malta and France all refused to let the vessel disembark.

The two leaders were addressing reporters later Monday in a joint news conference.

Trump welcomed the prime minister to the White House for the first time since the Italian leader came to power in June, bringing together two outsider leaders who have emerged from populist waves within their countries.

Conte leads the euroskeptic coalition of the 5-Star Movement, which considers itself anti-establishment, and the right-wing, north-based League party.

Trump last week avoided escalating a trade dispute with the European Union and his administration is expected to begin negotiations quickly on avoiding tariffs on automobiles and removing trade barriers.

The U.S. president noted the U.S. trade deficit with Italy, a member of the EU, and said he was certain "we'll straighten that out pretty quickly."

The White House has noted that Italy is an important NATO ally and a key partner to U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Conte, in brief remarks, thanked Trump for his "warm hospitality." Trump told him "you'll always be treated warmly." </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At the outset of a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the White House on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump praised Italy’s increasingly hard-line approach to immigration.

“I agree very much with what you are doing with respect to migration, and illegal immigration, and even legal immigration,” Trump told Conte in the Oval Office. “He has taken a very firm stance on the border, a stance that few countries have taken. And frankly he is doing the right thing in my opinion.” </s> WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump and Italy's new premier are stressing what they have in common as they stand side-by-side at the White House at a joint press conference.

Trump noted Monday that he and Italy's Giuseppe Conte were "both outsiders to politics" when they began their campaigns.

And Conte is describing the U.S. and Italy as "almost twin countries," adding: "There are so many things that bring us together."

The two leaders in particular share similar views on immigration.

Trump has tried to crack down on illegal immigration and pushed Congress to overhaul the legal immigration system.

And under Conte's new government, Italy has pushed for the European Union to accept tens of thousands of migrants coming across the Mediterranean Sea every year. </s> Two political outsiders, President Donald Trump and Italy's new premier expressed solidarity on migration issues Monday as they showed signs of a fledgling alliance at a time when the U.S. has dealt with strained relations with European leaders.Trump greeted Italy's Giuseppe Conte as "my new friend" and said they bonded at the recent G7 meetings in Canada, crediting the prime minister for taking a "firm stance on the border." The president said the U.S. and Italy would pursue a new strategic dialogue on security issues, terrorism and immigration."We are both outsiders to politics. Can you believe it?" Trump said during a joint news conference with Conte. Trump said both were "determined to protect the rights and needs and interests and dreams of our citizens and we will do that."Italy under Conte's new government has pushed for the European Union to accept tens of thousands of migrants coming across the Mediterranean Sea every year. The meeting follows a recent standoff over a private aid boat carrying more than 200 people who were rescued at sea. Italy, Malta and France all refused to let the vessel disembark.Trump welcomed the prime minister to the White House for the first time since Conte came to power in June, bringing together two outsider leaders who have emerged from populist waves within their countries.Conte leads the euroskeptic coalition of the 5-Star Movement, which considers itself anti-establishment, and the right-wing, north-based League party.Trump last week avoided escalating a trade dispute with the European Union and his administration is expected to begin negotiations quickly on avoiding tariffs on automobiles and removing trade barriers. But it followed tensions between the U.S. and EU over trade and the transatlantic alliance.During their talks, Trump noted the U.S. trade deficit with Italy, a member of the EU, and said he was certain "we'll straighten that out pretty quickly."Conte, in his remarks, said both he and Trump were leading "governments that represent change, they were chosen by citizens to change the status quo." He cited Italy's "innovative approach" on immigration and expressed support for Trump's recent talks with Russia Vladimir Putin.Prior to the meeting, the White House referred to Italy as an important NATO ally and a key partner to U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Trump thanked Italy for its contributions on the fight against the Islamic State and NATO efforts in Afghanistan and later pointed to his push for NATO allies to spend more on defense.But Trump steered clear of publicly faulting Italy for not spending more on defense, or meeting the previously agreed-upon target of 2 percent of gross domestic product by 2024. Italy spent an estimated 1.15 percent of GDP on defense in 2018, according to NATO figures. </s> Two political outsiders, President Donald Trump and Italy’s new premier, expressed solidarity on migration issues Monday as they showed signs of a fledgling alliance at a time when the U.S. has dealt with strained relations with European leaders.

Trump greeted Italy’s Giuseppe Conte as “my new friend” and said they bonded at the recent G7 meetings in Canada, crediting the prime minister for taking a “firm stance on the border.” The president said the U.S. and Italy would pursue a new strategic dialogue on security issues, terrorism and immigration.

“We are both outsiders to politics. Can you believe it?” Trump said during a joint news conference with Conte. Trump said both were “determined to protect the rights and needs and interests and dreams of our citizens, and we will do that.”

Italy under Conte’s new government has pushed for the European Union to accept tens of thousands of migrants coming across the Mediterranean Sea every year. The meeting follows a recent standoff over a private aid boat carrying more than 200 people who were rescued at sea. Italy, Malta and France all refused to let the vessel disembark.

Trump welcomed the prime minister to the White House for the first time since Conte came to power in June, bringing together two outsider leaders who have emerged from populist waves within their countries.

Conte leads the euroskeptic coalition of the 5-Star Movement, which considers itself anti-establishment, and the right-wing, north-based League party.

Trump last week avoided escalating a trade dispute with the European Union, and his administration is expected to begin negotiations quickly on avoiding tariffs on automobiles and removing trade barriers. But it followed tensions between the U.S. and EU over trade and the transatlantic alliance.

During their talks, Trump noted the U.S. trade deficit with Italy, a member of the EU, and said he was certain “we’ll straighten that out pretty quickly.”

Conte, in his remarks, said both he and Trump were leading “governments that represent change; they were chosen by citizens to change the status quo.” He cited Italy’s “innovative approach” on immigration and expressed support for Trump’s recent talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. </s> TAORMINA, Italy (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's first trip abroad (all times local):

One is more than 20 years older than her husband. The other is more than 20 years younger than hers. One dressed casually in white jeans, a red sweater and wedged Espadrilles, while the other wore a floral applique designer jacket over a white dress and matching floral clutch.

Brigitte Macron and Melania Trump both cut elegant figures in their own, distinctive styles during events for spouses on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Taormina, Sicily.

The women greeting each other warmly when they met Friday at Catania's City Hall. Their husbands had shared a firm handshake when they met the day before.

The spouses were invited for an Italian aperitivo and lunch at the historic Elephants Palace that houses the city administration. The guests included German Chancellor Angela Merkel's husband, Joachim Sauer, who rarely joins his wife abroad, Shinzo Abe's wife, Akie Abe, and Italian host Paolo Gentiloni's wife, Emanuela Mauro.

Some of the spouses got a helicopter's eye view of Mount Etna, an active volcano near Catania, on their way from Taormina, but not Mrs. Trump, who arrived separately in her own minivan.

She also skipped a tour of a Baroque Benedictine monastery.

President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have agreed to "enhance" sanctions on North Korea, including targeting entities that support North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

That's according to a White House readout of the pair's meeting Friday ahead of the G-7 summit of wealthy nations.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently told a U.N. gathering that the U.S. would not hesitate to sanction other countries that support the North's illegal activities.

Trump and Abe also discussed counter-terror efforts in the wake of the Manchester concert attack.

Trump told reporters at the top of the meeting that North Korea is "a world problem" that "will be solved."

Leaders attending the Group of Seven summit were cheered and greeted by local residents in the hilltop Sicilian town of Taormina — a rarity for global summits where ordinary people are usually kept at long distances for security reasons.

Crowds lined the route as President Donald Trump and the other six G-7 leaders made their way from Taormina's famed ancient Greek theater to the five-star San Domenico Palace, where they were meeting, about a kilometer away. The leaders made a brief stop along the way to take in a breathtaking view of the sea below.

While most of the public was barred from entering a security red zone, residents of Taormina, a town of 11,000, were given credentials to wear around their necks giving them access to the leaders on their arrival.

There was a man who toted his groceries through the crowd, and two little girls in white T-shirts waving at the leaders as they passed.

Security precautions increased after clashes at the Genoa summit 16 years ago left one protester dead.

Germany is rejecting a U.S. official's assertion that efforts to combat climate change will harm economic growth.

White House economic adviser Gary Cohn told reporters on the flight to Sicily Thursday that, if it comes to a choice between measures to curtail global warming under the 2015 Paris climate accord and growing the U.S. economy, economic considerations would prevail.

He said, "If those things collide, growing our economy is going to win. "

Asked about the comments Friday, a spokesman for Germany's environment ministry said "we expressly don't share the view that protecting the climate harms economic growth."

Nikolai Fichtner said Germany sees protecting the climate as "a modernization program" for national economies." He said, "the key question is whether one is part of this early on or not."

He also said Germany is lobbying "at all levels right now" for the U.S. to remain part of the Paris agreement.

A German government spokesman says trade surpluses like the one that's provoking Donald Trump's ire are the result of market factors and are "neither good nor bad."

Spokesman Georg Streiter didn't comment directly on a report that Trump called Germany "bad, very bad" on trade because of German companies' success selling goods such as cars in the U.S.

Streiter said in Berlin that Germany's current account surplus — the broadest measure of trade and investment flows — reflects economic factors that the German government can't directly do anything about.

He said it was "also caused by factors that cannot, or at least cannot directly, be influenced by economic or financial policy measures in Germany," including the price of oil price, the euro exchange rate and "structural factors such as demographic developments."

President Donald Trump is praising the Republican who won Montana's special House race Thursday for his "Great win in Montana."

Republican Greg Gianforte won his race despite having been charged with misdemeanor assault after allegedly slamming a reporter to the ground.

Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs said Gianforte "body slammed" him and broke his glasses at a Wednesday event/

Trump offered his comments during the G-7 summit it Sicily Friday.

Gianforte will fill the seat once held by Trump's Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Comments by President Trump on Germany's trade surplus with the United States are getting attention as leaders of seven wealthy democracies gather for difficult talks on trade and climate change.

Germany's Der Spiegel reported that Trump told European Union leaders in Brussels Thursday that Germans are "bad, very bad" on trade ahead of the Group of Seven summit in Taormina, Sicily. Trump was also quoted saying he wanted to reduce Germans car sales in the U.S.

White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said Friday that Trump did say Germans are "very bad on trade but he doesn't have a problem with Germany." He noted that Trump's father was born in Germany and said Trump had told the leaders, "I don't have a problem Germany, I have a problem with German trade."

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said the report was "exaggerated" and that Trump was "not aggressive" in his comments.

President Donald Trump says on Twitter that he's getting "ready to engage" his fellow G-7 leaders "on many issues including economic growth, terrorism, and security."

Trump offered two messages shortly after arriving at the G-7 summit of wealthy nations being held in the coastal city of Taormina, Sicily.

He's also touting his trip so far, describing it as "very successful." He says, "We made and saved the USA many billions of dollars and millions of jobs."

Trump is on the final stop of his first foreign trip, which has taken him to Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Vatican, Brussels and Italy.

President Donald Trump has arrived at his first G-7 summit in Italy.

Trump walked into an ancient Greek theater, shook hands with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and made a little small talk with his fellow heads of state as they posed for a group photo in Taormina, Sicily.

Trump then hopped in a golf cart for a short ride through the narrow streets of the hilltop town en route to a set of meetings, saying "Hello, everybody" to onlookers as he drove past.

The chairman of the European Union's council says there is "no doubt that this will be the most challenging G-7 summit in years."

President Donald Trump's positions on the hot-button issues of climate change, trade and migration stand in contrast to many European leaders. And they threaten to throw a summit of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies off its consensus game.

European Council President Donald Tusk says that leaders "sometimes have very different views" on topics such as climate change and trade. He says the European Union's goal is to maintain the unity of the G-7 on "all fronts," most importantly "defending the rules-based international order."

He also says he agrees with Trump that the international community should be "tough, even brutal" on terrorism and the Islamic State group.

Tusk spoke at the start of a meeting of the Group of Seven democracies in Taormina, Sicily.

President Donald Trump is declaring that North Korea is "a world problem" but says "it will be solved."

Trump met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday ahead of the G-7 summit in the Sicilian coastal city of Taormina, Italy.

The president said the men would discuss the situation with North Korea, which has repeatedly conducted missile tests, rattling its Pacific neighbors.

Trump said, "it will be solved, you can bet on that."

Abe became the latest world leader to publicly flatter Trump, saluting his visit to the Middle East and address to NATO on Thursday. He said they would discuss economic issues and also joked that, unlike their last meeting in Florida, the two men would not be able to play golf this time.

Trump is spending two days at the G-7, the final stop on his maiden international trip.

President Donald Trump is in Taormina, Italy for a series of meetings with fellow Group of Seven wealthy nation leaders.

Trump is set to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before participating in a welcome ceremony and reception with follow G-7 leaders.

In the afternoon, he'll participate in a luncheon and working sessions, before joining first lady Melania Trump at a performance of the La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra at the ancient Greek Theatre of Taormina.

The president and first lady will finish off the second-last day of Trump's first official trip abroad attending a dinner hosted by Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

The G-7 includes the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

President Donald Trump has faced a much cooler reception in Europe than the welcome he received in the Middle East.

The leaders of Saudi Arabia and Israel seemed in competition to outdo the other with the warmth of their welcomes. Not so in Europe as Trump met with other NATO leaders and appeared eager to go on the offensive.

Trump has publicly scolded some of America's most loyal allies for not paying their fair share of NATO's defense initiatives. He's also refused to explicitly back their mutual defense agreement.

Trump now arrives in Sicily for the final leg of a nine-day, five-stop marathon, a G-7 economic meeting. He is likely to be received warily, but the White House says the president has made personal breakthroughs with his peers.
U.S. President Donald Trump hosts Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the White House.