Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will attend U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington on Monday, her office confirmed on Saturday.
Meloni will be one of the highest-profile European politicians to attend the event.
Trump conspicuously snubbed the continent’s centrist mainstream, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in his invitations.
Instead, he has invited many of the foreign leaders he’s spoken to by phone or welcomed in person at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, such as Argentinian President Javier Milei — who will also be in attendance — and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi is sending Vice President Han Zheng in his stead.
Prominent representatives of Europe’s populist far right, from Britain’s Nigel Farage to France’s Eric Zemmour, also scored an invite.
Meloni, who earlier this month paid a surprise visit to Trump at Mar-a-Lago, was dubbed “a fantastic woman” who “had taken Europe by storm” by the president-elect. The visit was part of a sustained effort to build a reputation as Trump’s main interlocutor in Europe.
Meloni also has a good relationship with Elon Musk, the tech billionaire who is a close ally of Trump.
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