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Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy was headed to Mar-a-Lago to visit President-elect Donald J. Trump for an informal meeting being held on Saturday, three people familiar with the trip said.<\/p>\n
The trip comes just a few days before Ms. Meloni is set to welcome President Biden in Rome for an official visit to Italy and the Vatican on Jan. 9 to 12.<\/p>\n
Ms. Meloni and Mr. Trump have expressed mutual appreciation in the past, and her trip is one of the first few visits by a foreign leader to the president-elect\u2019s estate in Florida since his election. The meeting reinforces the hopes of Ms. Meloni\u2019s supporters that the conservative Italian prime minister will become Mr. Trump\u2019s go-to ally in Europe.<\/p>\n
Much of that role would involve mediating tensions between other European leaders and Mr. Trump, who has threatened to start a trade war with the continent as well as to reduce American backing for some NATO countries and for Ukraine in its war with Russia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The agenda of the meeting was unclear on Saturday night, but observers expected the two leaders would discuss those issues.<\/p>\n
Another possible topic, according to observers, is the detention in Iran of a prominent Italian reporter, Cecilia Sala<\/a>. <\/span>It happened a few days after Italy arrested, at the request of the United States, <\/span>an Iranian suspected of providing drone components to the Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards. <\/span>Iran has routinely detained foreigners<\/a> and dual citizens to trade them for money and people.<\/p>\n One person briefed on the meeting said Ms. Meloni had pressed aggressively for it.<\/p>\n She also has a good relationship with Elon Musk, which her supporters hope will bolster her international standing once Mr. Trump becomes president. <\/p>\n Since being elected, Mr. Trump has welcomed to Mar-a-Lago Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary<\/a>, a champion of \u201cilliberal democracy,\u201d as well as Argentina\u2019s firebrand right-wing president, Javier Milei. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada became the first Group of Seven leader to visit Mr. Trump<\/a> in Florida since the election, after a threat to impose tariffs on Canada.<\/p>\n Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n