Giorgia Meloni’s presence at Donald Trump’s inauguration aimed to reinforce her status as a privileged interlocutor of the new US administration. But this position carries risks for Italy and the EU.

Critics noted the meeting's absence, but ECR Secretary-General Antonio Giordano, who was in Washington with Meloni, played down its significance to Euractiv, stating Meloni spent four hours with Trump, a meeting that had a positive outcome.

He hails a fantastic woman sweeping all before her in Europe. She praises a strong and shrewd defender of the West. Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni are fast forging a new transatlantic "special relationship".

Italy will work to strengthen dialogue between the European Union and the United States, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on congratulating President Donald Trump on his return to the White House. "Italy will always work to strengthen the dialogue between the US and Europe,

Among EU leaders, however, only Meloni is confirmed to have received a personal invitation to the event, bolstered by her personal relationship with Trump, whom she recently visited at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is aiming for a central leadership role in Europe as President-elect Donald Trump prepares his return to the White House on January Meloni announced on Thursday in Rome that she plans to attend Trump's inauguration.