Donald Trump has joined the Giorgia Meloni fan club, describing her as a “fantastic leader and person”. The feeling is mutual. Meloni has responded in the same metre on X.read more
Besides her policy decisions, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni often makes it to news headlines all over the world for her expanding fan club of heads of state. The latest to join the Giorgia Meloni fan club is the US President-elect Donald Trump, who was seen gushing while answering questions about how he would work with the Italian leader in his second term.
Asked if he would work with the Italian leader after he is inaugurated on January 20, Trump said, “Yes!”
“She’s fantastic. She’s a fantastic leader and person,” Trump gushed, Politico said, reporting his remarks.
Both Meloni and Trump are considered on the right side of the political divide. Trump is due to return to the White House next month, while Meloni has been heading the Italian government since 2022. Meloni was a Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy during Trump’s first term at the White House.
Trump’s ‘first buddy’ Elon Musk, the richest person on the planet, also shares a close bond with Meloni, with social media speculation about their ‘special relationship’.
With regard to Trump’s remarks about Meloni as a leader and a person, the Italian prime minister reciprocated by reposting a video of the US president-elect, thanking him for his “kind words”.
“Thanks to @realDonaldTrump for the kind words,” Meloni wrote on X, the social media platform owned by Musk.
https://x.com/GiorgiaMeloni/status/1867264817175965722
Trump was nominated as the most influential person in the world on Thursday by Time magazine, while Politico has named Meloni as the most powerful person in Europe, which is witnessing two of the political heavyweight members — Germany and France — struggling with political uncertainties.
Meloni was one of the first European leaders to congratulate Trump after he stunned Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris, the outgoing vice president of the US, in November in an election not seen in America in decades.
Trump and Meloni also met and spent “a lot” of time in Paris early this month during the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral — after a massive fire shut it down for five years. During their last meeting, Trump reportedly called Meloni a “real live wire” in his own trademark style.
The back-slapping of the two of the most forceful politicians across the globe is expected to guide the US-EU relation over the next few years as Trump threatens even the allies with tariff hikes in his bid to “Make America Great Again” — MAGA, his campaign slogan.