The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, made a surprise, unofficial visit to the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, last Saturday (4). The meeting took place before Trump's inauguration, scheduled for January 20.
Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, arrived at the venue at 19:30 p.m. local time and stayed for less than five hours. The American press highlighted the gesture as a reinforcement of the alliance between the conservative leaders of Europe and the United States, shortly before the official visit of Joe Biden to Italy, scheduled for next week.
During the meeting, the two leaders discussed relevant topics, such as the war in Ukraine, gas supplies and possible new trade tariffs imposed by the United States on products from the European Union.
Official sources also pointed out that Meloni asked for support for the case of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, imprisoned in Iran for alleged violations of Islamic laws, while an Iranian engineer faces charges in the US for involvement with military drone parts.
“She really took over Europe,” Trump said of Meloni, in a statement recorded by reporter Alex Leary of the Wall Street Journal. The meeting was also attended by the new US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who described Meloni as a “great ally and strong leader.”
Another controversial point of the visit was Trump's showing of a documentary about allegations of fraud in the 2020 presidential election, which Biden won. The trip, organized at the last minute, was reportedly mediated by businessman Elon Musk, who suggested a rapprochement between the two leaders through messages on his social network, X.
