Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, chosen by POLITICO the ‘most powerful person in Europe’, was yet another head of state to make the pilgrimage to Palm Beach, Florida, to have dinner with incoming US President Donald J. Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Besides the US and Italy being important allies, and Trump and Meloni having a somewhat similar approach to policy in a wide range of subjects, there is also an interesting question of timing.
Meloni’s visit, after all, comes just days before she is to receive outgoing President from hell Joe Biden, who will travel to Rome and the Vatican on Jan. 9, in his final trip overseas.
Bloomberg reported:
“Trump walked in to a movie screening at his resort with Meloni and pointed her out to a crowd.
‘This is very exciting, I’m here with a fantastic woman, the prime minister of Italy. She’s really taken Europe by storm, and everyone else, and we’re just having dinner tonight’.”
NOW: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has just arrived at Mar-a-Lago with President Trump
Where’s @elonmusk?
pic.twitter.com/bq8KPanYrc— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 5, 2025
Also present was Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, who called Meloni a ‘great ally, strong leader’.
“Foreign leaders who have visited Trump since the election include Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, President Javier Milei of Argentina and Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary.
The meeting could be an opportunity to address the case of Cecilia Sala, the Italian journalist detained by Iran last month.”
The meeting was cordial, and the Trump/Meloni partnership has everything to blossom, but so far, there is still some distance between them, as observers in social media noticed by the Italian PM’s always very noticeable body language.
Meloni crossed her arms across her chest, hugging herself while posing for photographs. One X user even facetiously said she wished Elon Musk was there instead of Rubio.
SEE IT: Trump brought incoming Secretary of State Marco Rubio with him as he hosted Italian PM Giorgia Meloni at Mar-a-Lago tonight
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 5, 2025
Read more:
POLITICO Names Conservative Italian Prime Minister Meloni as ‘The Most Powerful Person in Europe’