Meloni had already developed a relationship seen as cordial with Musk, who was invited to Atreju, a youth event for her Brothers of Italy party, in late 2023. But amid alarm among parties including Italy's defence community and its presidency, there has been an increasing politicization of the potential Starlink contract.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is one of just a handful of world leaders to have been invited to Mar-a-Lago since his election victory last November — but whether she can be Europe's "Trump whisperer" is more complicated.

Lago, an invitation to Monday's inauguration and good relations with Elon Musk, Italy's Giorgia Meloni has positioned herself as the closest mainstream European leader to Donald Trump. - Big vacuum - "Giorgia Meloni has better relations with Trump than any other (major) European leader.

Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni are fast forging a new transatlantic "special relationship". Italian Prime Minister Meloni was the sole European leader at Trump's presidential inauguration on Monday,