rome
CNN
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A few years ago, it would have been unimaginable that Italy would be home to one of the most stable governments in Europe. Italy’s coalition governments tend to last just over a year before collapsing, making Italy an unpredictable situation.
But a series of factors, including government crises in relatively stable countries like France and Germany, and the explosive popularity of Italy’s current coalition government led by far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has been in power since 2022, have Rome has become a major player in European relations. The United States under the administration of second President Donald Trump.
During his last term, President Trump referred to Europe as America’s “enemy.” This time, Meloni has a chance to turn things around thanks to a mutual friend, Elon Musk.
Last weekend, after the official reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Musk, Trump and Meloni dined together at French President Emmanuel Macron’s 60-person banquet, an experience they later talked about. Trump was positive, he told the New York Post.
“We became very close,” he said, adding that he and Meloni spent “a lot of time together.”
Describing their diminutive frame (Meloni himself often jokes that he’s 5 feet 2 inches tall) as a “living wire,” he believes they can “make the world a little bit more right.” ” he predicted.
Although the two leaders are politically similar, they do not necessarily see eye to eye on all of the world’s most pressing conflicts. Meloni has met with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy more than a dozen times since the Russian invasion and is one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters.
But it remains to be seen whether she will be able to influence President Trump’s actions in any way, and she will likely have her first challenge in Europe.
Giovanni Orsina, director of the ministry, said: “Before there is a new government in Germany, given the current situation in France, with President Trump in the White House, Italy will have a kind of monopoly as the only country with a stable government.” It’s going to be a situation,” he said. in political science from Louis University in Rome, told CNN.
“Meloni and Musk continue to have a very good relationship, and Musk could become a confidant of sorts for both of them, at least as long as Trump and Musk’s honeymoon continues.”
Mr. Musk and Mr. Meloni developed such a strong friendship in the summer of 2023 that the Tesla founder headlined Mr. Meloni’s Italian Brothers’ political convention “Atregi” last December.
He is rumored to be making a surprise appearance at the same convention in Rome this weekend, which will be chaired by another of Trump’s populist allies, Argentine President Javier Millei.
Meloni and Musk have a very close relationship, and the couple announced their romance earlier this year after gushing about Meloni’s beauty while presenting Meloni with the Global Citizen Award on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. I had to speak out on social media to dispel the rumors. yoke.
A photo of the two staring at each other went viral, with Musk tweeting that he was there with his mother and saying he had “no romantic relationship whatsoever with Prime Minister Meloni.”
Orsina believes Musk will make it easier for the Italian prime minister to “reach out” to Trump whenever he feels the need.
“There is an opportunity for Mr. Meloni to take the lead and build a bridge between the Trump administration and Europe,” he said.
Meloni claims to have already begun the process of bridging in Paris, telling X: “There is already an alliance. The axis between the US and the EU passes through Italy.”
This isn’t the first time Meloni has benefited from the MAGA elite. Steve Bannon, Musk’s previous American supporter, headlined her political convention at Atrej in 2018 and told CNN at the time that Musk would be one of the most important politicians in Europe. He said he believed it.
If Bannon is elected in 2022 and becomes a moderate, he will no longer wield the power he once had as President Trump’s chief strategist, and his attitude will become colder. Last week, Bannon told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that said he was disappointed.
“Meloni has almost become Nikki Haley,” he told an Italian daily about President Trump’s opponent in the Republican primary. He expects it will be Meloni who will influence Trump rather than the other way around, citing her support for Ukraine and lack of commitment to Italy’s trade issues.
“I think her attitude will change with the arrival of President Trump, who will persuade her,” Bannon said. “And the NATO countries will be on board with this immediately. Otherwise, if she really believes what she has said in recent years, she will put money into it, along with the rest of Europe, and give speeches and We in the MAGA movement absolutely want to cut funding to Ukraine by 100%.”
For now, Meloni appears to have the backing of Musk, which puts him on Trump’s right side.
“She’s more of a ‘next day’ politician than a ‘next day’ politician,” Orsina said, referring to the possibility that Trump will be more reactive than proactive in his approach to Europe.
