Meloni secured the meeting at a critical juncture in the trade war. As the right-wing leader of her party she has, in a sense, been "knighted" to represent the European Union in meetings with Trump.

The S&P 500 sank 2.2% after falling as much as 3.3% earlier. Such an amount would have vied for one of its worst losses in years before the historic swings that have upended Wall Street in recent ...