By Ayesha Rascoe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama welcomed Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to the White House on Tuesday, using the pomp of the formal state visit to highlight the link between the sluggish European economy and populist discontent in the continent.
The spotlight comes at an opportune time for Renzi, who seeks a boost ahead of a constitutional referendum on Dec. 4 that could determine his political future.
But even Renzi admitted that the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 8 loomed larger.
"I have a feeling, and I think that rightly so, our American friends are a little more interested in November 8 than in the Italian vote on constitutional reform, and so are we, might I add," Renzi said, drawing laughter from the Rose Garden press conference.
Obama slammed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for "whining" that the U.S. election is "rigged."
He praised Renzi's proposed economic reforms, and said he supported the attempt to modernize its political institutions at the referendum because it would help accelerate economic changes.
"I do believe that there is a connection between stagnation and some of the less constructive, populist impulses that have been rising up," Obama said, saying more jobs needed to be created for Europe's younger generation.
This is the second time this year Obama has weighed in on domestic political battles facing his European allies. In April, he visited London in support of former Prime Minister David Cameron's unsuccessful efforts to persuade Britain to vote to remain in the European Union.
The leaders also discussed the fight against Islamic State and the battle to take the Iraqi city of Mosul from the militant group, something Obama called a "key milestone."
Obama insisted the U.S.-led coalition had an extensive strategy to deal with what could be "heart-breaking" humanitarian consequences of the fight.
"If we aren't successful in helping ordinary people as they're fleeing from ISIL, then that makes us vulnerable to seeing ISIL return and feeding on the resentments in the aftermath of Mosul being liberated," Obama said, using an acronym for Islamic State.