Italian Prime Minister Meloni meets with Trump at his Florida resort By Reuters
Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni is headed to Florida to meet with President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday, as the key European leader seeks to strengthen ties with Trump ahead of his January 20 inauguration.
Members of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort gave Meloni a standing ovation after the president-elect introduced him, according to videos shared on social media by reporters and others.
His trip comes days before he meets US President Joe Biden during his visit to Rome from Thursday to Jan. 12. Trump defeated Biden in the November election and prepared for his return to the White House.
Although the details of their meeting have not been disclosed, Meloni planned to talk to Trump about Russia’s war in Ukraine, trade issues, the Middle East and the plight of an Italian journalist imprisoned in Tehran, according to Italian media reports.
Meloni’s office declined to comment on the reports.
He is considered a strong ally for Trump given his strong credentials and the stability of the right-wing coalition he leads in Italy. He also developed a close relationship with billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk, a close ally of Trump who spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help him win the election.
“This is very exciting. I’m here with an amazing woman, the prime minister of Italy,” Trump told the Mar-a-Lago crowd, according to a media pool report. “He has certainly taken Europe by storm.”
Trump and Meloni sat down to sift through a document questioning the criminal investigation and legal review against John Eastman, a former Trump lawyer who was instrumental in Trump’s failed bid to overturn his 2020 election loss.
One of the biggest challenges facing Meloni is the arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala in Iran on December 19.
Sala was arrested three days after Mohammad Abedini, an Iranian businessman, was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport on a US warrant for allegedly supplying parts to a drone Washington said was used in a 2023 attack that killed three US personnel in Jordan. Iran has denied any involvement in the attack.
On Friday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Italian ambassador over Abedini’s arrest, Iranian state media reported.
Meloni was the latest of several foreign leaders to visit Trump in Florida since the Nov. 5 election. He met with Argentine President Javier Milei, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
