Italian PM Meloni visits Trump in Florida

By AFP

January 06, 2025

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with President-elect Donald Trump (center), accompanied by Sen Marco Rubio (right) and Rep Michael Waltz (left) at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday.— Reuters/File

WEST PALM BEACH, United States: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni paid an unofficial visit to Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence on Sunday, the latest foreign leader hosted by the US president-elect as he prepares to take office.

Photos sent by the office of the far-right prime minister on Sunday showed Meloni and Trump posing at the entrance to Mar-a-Lago and chatting in a reception room, a Christmas tree visible in the background.

According to US journalists present, Trump called Meloni “a fantastic woman.”

“She´s really taken Europe by storm, and everyone else, and we´re just having dinner tonight,” Trump said.

According to US media, the two dined and watched the film “The Eastman Dilemma: Lawfare or Justice,” a documentary about a lawyer who was charged for trying to overturn the 2020 election results in favor of Trump.

Meloni is one of several foreign leaders, including Canada´s Justin Trudeau and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who have paid visits to Trump before he takes office.

Trump´s promises of introducing heavy import tariffs have led to a scramble among traditional economic allies, including in Europe, to plan for possible negative effects on trade.