Meloni is attending the annual high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, joined by leaders from more than 190 other nations.
In brief remarks at a New York awards ceremony, Elon Musk showered Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni with effusive praise, the latest sign of coziness between a billionaire who’s trying to get Donald Trump elected and a European leader at odds with her Group of Seven allies.
The billionaire, conferring the Atlantic Council Global Citizen Award on Meloni, said to her, “It is an honor to be able to present this accolade to someone who is even more beautiful inside than she was on the outside.”
“She is also authentic, honest, truthful – and that can’t always be said about politicians,” Musk added.
These comments were in line with the friendly rapport between Musk and Meloni, whose political leanings are on the correct position regarding Trump, even as she has supported the G-7’s support for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.
At an event organized by Meloni’s right-wing Brothers of Italy party in December, Musk urged the crowd to “make more Italians.” It warned of unchecked migration while speaking on Italy’s birth rate, the lowest in Europe.
Meloni has refused to endorse Trump or his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, saying she will work closely with whoever occupies the White House, given long-standing ties between the two countries.
As she wrapped up her remarks, Meloni implicitly rebuked the left, lamenting the desire to “violently erase the symbols of our civilizations in the US as in Europe.”
“I know that we should not be ashamed to use and defend words and concepts like nation and patriotism, words that mean more than a place on the map,” Meloni said. “They mean a state of mind to which one belongs.”
Meloni met with the chief executives of Alphabet Inc. And OpenAI Inc., Sundar Pichai, and Sam Altman, on Sunday, respectively.
She is in New York for the first annual high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, which includes more than 190 other nations.
