#StateVisit
Diplomatic Dinners and Political Theatre
#StateVisit
Diplomatic Dinners and Political Theatre
State visits are like those big family reunions where everyone’s on their best behaviour, even though half the room secretly can’t stand each other and someone definitely owes someone else money. Leaders arrive grinning like cousins who haven’t spoken since that messy trade dispute, exchange gifts no one understands (“Thank you for this... ceremonial fishing spear?”), and endure elaborate dinners where nobody touches the food because they're too busy pretending to laugh at diplomatic jokes. There’s always one overeager staffer filming everything like it’s a wedding, and at least one awkward cultural moment that’ll live forever on the internet. It’s warm, weird, overly formal — and just like family, nobody really knows what they’re doing, but everyone claps anyway.
Trump Meets Meloni, Slams Powell as Tariffs Tumble Stocks
- Thursday, 17 April 2025
Donald Trump met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the White House, discussing a potential trade deal to prevent the European Union from being hit with Trump's 20% reciprocal tariff. The meeting came after Trump criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Truth Social, calling him "too late and wrong" for not cutting interest rates. Stocks took a historic tumble following Powell's warning that Trump's tariffs are "highly likely" to cause more inflation, which may have angered the president.
