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(Bloomberg) — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni flew to Florida on Saturday and met with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach.
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Meloni’s surprise visit came days before she’s scheduled to receive President Joe Biden, who’ll travel to Rome and the Vatican from Jan. 9 in what will likely be his final presidential mission overseas.
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Trump and Meloni spoke about a range of matters, according to a person familiar with the matter, including tariffs that the incoming president has threatened against various trading partners, and the arrest in Iran of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, currently being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.
Sala’s arrest in December, authorities on both sides have signalled, came days after Italian law enforcement, at the request of the US, apprehended a Swiss-Iranian national at Milan’s Malpensa airport.
That individual, Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi, has been charged by the US on lethal drone warfare allegations and remains in Italian custody.
Trump walked in to a movie screening at his resort with Meloni on Saturday night and pointed her out to a crowd.
“This is very exciting, I’m here with a fantastic woman, the prime minister of Italy,” Trump said. “She’s really taken Europe by storm, and everyone else, and we’re just having dinner tonight.”
US Senator Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominee for secretary of State, called Meloni a “great ally, strong leader.”
Foreign leaders who’ve visited Trump since his election include Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, President Javier Milei of Argentina, and Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary.
—With assistance from Flavia Krause-Jackson and Annmarie Hordern.
(Updates with details of talks from third paragraph.)
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