Trump Welcomes Italy’s Meloni in Face of Iranian Pressure

January 4, 2025 TruthUSA

The meeting occurred when Iran imprisoned an Italian reporter and demanded the release of a businessman facing extradition to the United States.

PALM BEACH, Florida—President-elect Donald Trump welcomed Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump mentioned the meeting in remarks to reporters at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night.

The two leaders participated in a panel discussion of a previously scheduled film screening that highlighted the challenges faced by conservative lawyers, including Trump’s former attorney John Eastman, before having dinner.

They were joined by Trump’s choice for secretary of state, former Sen. Marco Rubio, and his national security adviser Mike Waltz. Also in attendance were Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and the nominee for U.S. ambassador to Italy, Tilman Fertitta.

Earlier in the day, Italian media announced that Meloni was flying to Florida to meet with the future U.S. president. The meeting took place as Meloni navigates a foreign policy test following the detention of Italian reporter Cecilia Sala in Iran on Dec. 19 while operating under a regular journalist visa.

Reports from Italian media suggest that Sala is being held in solitary confinement in a cold cell with a continuously on neon light, her glasses taken away, and minimal contact with the outside world.

The Italian citizen was detained shortly after the arrest of Mohammad Abedini, an Iranian businessman, at Milan’s Malpensa airport on a U.S. arrest warrant for allegedly providing drone parts used in a 2023 attack that resulted in the deaths of three U.S. service members in Jordan. Iran denies any involvement in the attack.

Iran’s foreign ministry called in Italy’s ambassador on Friday over Abedini’s arrest, according to Iranian state media.

Reports from state media suggest that an Iranian foreign ministry official urged Italy to reject the U.S. hostage policy and not cooperate with the extradition warrant, which they claim violates international law.

Tehran also appealed to the Meloni administration to release Abedini promptly to prevent any harm to bilateral relations.

Abedini remains in detention, and a court is expected to consider granting him house arrest as they review the U.S. extradition request later this month.

“We don’t comment on unconfirmed meetings, but it’s not surprising that world leaders have reached out to President Trump post his historic victory to foster better relations with the United States,” Trump’s spokesperson Steven Cheung stated earlier on Saturday regarding rumors of a potential meeting.

Emel Akan and Reuters contributed to this report.

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