"Trump will try to divide Europe and negotiate directly with individual countries—a classic divide-and-conquer strategy. For our government, trying to secure better conditions than others would be a huge mistake, primarily for Italian interests," said Salvatore Rossi, an economist and former director-general of the Bank of Italy until 2019, during Trump's early years in office, and later president of TIM. According to Rossi, who was interviewed by La Repubblica, "the tariffs on European goods that Trump has pledged are first and foremost a threat, intended to strengthen the bargaining position. Trump is a populist but not ideological; he is a businessman and negotiator with some knowledge of economics. He knows that tariffs are ultimately paid by the people of the imposing countries, through inflation. His goal is to reduce the U.S. trade deficit. The United States is far too powerful; what a small and very insignificant country like Italy must do is push for Europe to respond collectively. Only when the Union is united does it have the same weight as the United States".