Musk ally Meloni emerges as global political player

WHEN Giorgia Meloni won power in 2022, she was widely expected to be no more than a footnote in the nation’s political history. However, Italy’s first woman prime minister is not only proving to be one of the most consequential European politicians of modern times, but also “punching hard” on the global stage, including with her chairing of the G7 in 2024.

Her growing prominence will be showcased, again, when Joe Biden is scheduled to travel to Rome next week in what is likely to be his last foreign visit as US president. He is planning to make a swansong overseas trip to meet Meloni and Pope Francis, after former president Jimmy Carter’s state funeral on Jan 9.

Yet, respectful as Biden’s relationship is with Meloni, her ideological bond with US president-elect Donald Trump is warmer. So her political stock could hit its peak in the next four years, given that she and Trump have much in common policy-wise, including clamping down on immigration.