Trump appears with Italian Prime Minister Meloni at Mar-a-Lago

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made a surprise trip to Florida to meet Donald Trump on Saturday evening, as Europe’s top leader sought to strengthen ties with the president-elect ahead of his January 20 inauguration.

Members of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort greeted Meloni with applause after an introduction from the president-elect, according to videos shared on social media by reporters and others.

“It’s very exciting. I’m here with a fantastic woman, the Prime Minister of Italy,” Trump told the Mar-a-Lago crowd, according to a media report. “She really took Europe by storm.”

Meloni is seen as a potentially strong partner for Trump given her conservative credentials and the stability of the right-wing coalition she has led in Italy since late 2022.

She also formed a close relationship with billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk, a close Trump ally who spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars helping him win the election.

Tommaso Foti, Italy’s minister for European and regional affairs, said Sunday that the meeting, which had not been announced in advance, showed that Italy could serve as a “diplomatic bridge between two worlds: the European Union and the United States.”

His trip comes days before he meets with President Joe Biden during a visit to Rome from Thursday to January 12.

Although no details of their meeting were disclosed, Meloni had planned to discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine, trade issues, the Middle East and the fate of an Italian journalist detained in Tehran with Trump, according to the Italian media.

Although no details of their meeting were disclosed, Meloni had planned to discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine, trade issues, the Middle East and the fate of an Italian journalist detained in Tehran with Trump, according to the Italian media.

Trump and Meloni watched a screening of a documentary questioning the criminal investigations and legal scrutiny facing John Eastman, a former Trump lawyer who played a central role in Trump’s unsuccessful effort to overturn his election defeat in 2020.

One of the biggest challenges Meloni faces 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 Malpensa airport on a US arrest warrant for allegedly supplying drone parts that Washington says , were used in a 2023 attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan. Iran has denied any involvement in the attack.

Meloni became the latest of a handful of 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.