US President-elect Donald Trump praised Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as a “fantastic woman” during her visit to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump expressed excitement, calling Meloni a leader who has “really taken Europe by storm.”
Meloni, who became prime minister in October 2022 and is a member of the right-wing Brothers of Italy party, is known to have connections with the incoming Trump administration, particularly through his ally Elon Musk.
While countries like France and Germany are facing political challenges, Meloni’s stable coalition in Italy and conservative values make her a natural ally for Trump. She was joined at the meeting by Trump’s nominees for secretary of state and national security advisor, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Representative Mike Waltz (R-Florida).
Although no specific details have been released about their discussions, Meloni, like other global leaders, has been working to strengthen ties with the President-elect before his inauguration on January 20. Both Meloni’s office and the Trump transition team have been contacted for further comment.
A potential topic on the agenda during Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s visit to Mar-a-Lago could be the detention of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, who was arrested in Iran last month.
Italy’s foreign ministry confirmed last Friday that Sala, a reporter for the Italian daily Il Foglio, was detained in Tehran. Iranian state news agency IRNA reported on Monday that Sala was arrested on December 19 for “violating the laws of the Islamic republic of Iran.”
The detention has created a diplomatic challenge for Italy, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani stating that the government is working “tirelessly” to secure her release.
A sign of the growing relationship between Meloni’s government and Trump’s circle came from Andrea Stroppa, a cybersecurity expert and Musk ally based in Rome. He posted a fake AI-generated image on social media showing Meloni, Trump, and Musk dressed in attire reminiscent of the Roman Empire.
In addition to her visit to Florida, Meloni is set to meet with President Joe Biden during his trip to Rome this week. Biden will thank her for her leadership of the G7 over the past year and discuss key global challenges, according to a White House statement released last month.
Meloni’s trip to Florida follows a dinner with Trump and Musk during the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris last month, an experience Trump later described as positive to the New York Post.
While Trump and Meloni share similar political views, they do not necessarily agree on all global issues. Meloni has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine, meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky more than a dozen times since Russia’s invasion.
Meloni’s strong bond with Musk developed in the summer of 2023, with Musk headlining her Brothers of Italy political convention, Atreju, in December of the same year.
Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei was the first world leader to meet Trump at Mar-a-Lago following his re-election. Other notable visitors to the residence have included Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Canada’s Justin Trudeau.