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WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni flew to Florida to meet with President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday, as the top European leader sought to strengthen ties with Trump ahead of his inauguration on the 20th. of January.
Members of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort greeted Meloni with applause after an introduction by the president-elect, according to videos shared on social media by reporters and others.
His trip comes days before he meets with US President Joe Biden during a visit to Rome from Thursday to January 12. Trump defeated Biden in the November election and is preparing to return to the White House.
While details of their meeting have not been revealed, Meloni had planned to speak with Trump about Russia’s war in Ukraine, trade issues, the Middle East and the plight of an Italian journalist detained in Tehran, according to Italian media reports.
Meloni’s office declined to comment on the reports.
She is seen as a potentially strong partner for Trump given her conservative credentials and the stability of the right-wing coalition he leads in Italy. He has also forged a close relationship with billionaire technology CEO Elon Musk, a close Trump ally who spent more than $250 million to help him win the election.
“This is 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 group report. “She has really taken Europe by storm.”
Trump and Meloni then sat down to watch a screening of a documentary that questions the criminal investigations and legal scrutiny facing John Eastman, a former Trump lawyer who was instrumental in Trump’s unsuccessful efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
One of the biggest challenges Meloni faces is the arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala in Iran on December 19.
Sala was detained three days after Mohammad Abedini, an Iranian businessman, was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport on a US warrant for allegedly supplying drone parts that Washington says were used in a 2023 attack that killed three. US service members in Jordan. Iran has denied involvement in the attack.
On Friday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Italy’s ambassador over Abedini’s detention, Iranian state media reported.
Meloni became the latest of a handful of foreign leaders who have visited Trump in Florida since the Nov. 5 election. He has met with Argentine President Javier Milei, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.