Trump praises 'fantastic woman' Giorgia Meloni in surprise U.S. visit

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni flew to Florida in the U.S. to meet President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday, as the key European leader sought to cement ties before Trump's inauguration on January 20.

Members of Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort welcomed Meloni with applause after an introduction by Trump.

"This is very exciting. I'm here with a fantastic woman, the prime minister of Italy," Trump told the crowd. "She's really taken Europe by storm."

Meloni's trip comes days before she is to meet U.S. President Joe Biden during a four-day visit to Rome from Thursday. Trump defeated Biden in the November election and is preparing to return to the White House.

While no details of their meeting have been disclosed, reports suggest Meloni was planning to talk with Trump about the Russia and Ukraine conflict, trade issues, the Middle East and the plight of an Italian journalist detained in Tehran.

She is seen as a potentially strong partner for Trump given her conservative credentials and the stability of the right-wing coalition she heads in Italy. 

She has also forged a close relationship with billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk, a close Trump ally who spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help his election efforts.

Legal challenges

Trump and Meloni then sat down for a screening of a documentary questioning the criminal investigations and legal scrutiny faced by John Eastman, a former Trump lawyer who was central to Trump's unsuccessful efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.

One of the biggest challenges facing Meloni is the arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala in Iran on December 19. Sala was detained three days after Iranian businessman Mohammad Abedini was arrested at Milan's Malpensa airport on a U.S. 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 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 in the handful of foreign leaders who have visited Trump in Florida since the November 5 election. He has also met Argentinian President Javier Milei, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.