Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has offered her “most sincere” congratulations to Donald Trump and said the U.S. and Italy are “sister” nations with “unshakeable” ties.
Her deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini was positively gleeful writing: “The battle against illegal immigration; cutting taxes; Christian roots and a return to peace; freedom of thought and the rejection of the political process. Also in the United States good sense, passion and the future have won out! Good work, President Donald Trump.”
Italy’s right-wing populist leadership is in some ways naturally aligned to a Trump administration. Before the election result, Prime Minister Meloni was careful to try to maintain good relations with both the Trump and Harris campaign. But Meloni carefully courted Donald Trump when he was president, and her administration has reportedly kept in contact with senior Trump foreign policy advisors. Some analysts in Europe believe the Meloni government could be well placed as a key bridge between Europe and Washington.
Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is also among those European leaders celebrating a Trump victory. Orbán was one of the first foreign leaders to congratulate Trump. In his decades in power Orbán has been accused of amassing power to himself at the expense of democratic institutions, Hungary’s judicial system and civil society institutions. Posting on X, Orbán called the US election result a “much needed victory for the World!”
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