Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni defended her friendship with tech billionaire Elon Musk after their frequent sightings together sparked online buzz that the two were “dating”.
Responding to questions during a parliamentary discussion ahead of a European Union summit in Brussels, Meloni said, “I can be a friend of Elon Musk and at the same time the head of the first Italian government that made a new law to regulate private activity in space.”
However, Meloni told Italian lawmakers that she would not be influenced in areas where Musk has economic interests. Meloni also took a swipe at her predecessors, saying previous leaders “who thought they had a good relationship, even a friendship, with a foreign leader, they had to slavishly follow what the others did”, according to The Independent.
Meloni said she had good relationships “with many people” but “I don’t take orders from anyone”.
Her remarks came after she met the Tesla and SpaceX billionaire frequently after her far-right coalition came to power in 2022. Following US President-elect Donald Trump’s election win, Meloni congratulated her ‘friend’ Musk, who played a key role in Trump’s victory.
Elon Musk Denies ‘Affair’ With Meloni
Meloni’s frequent meetings with Musk had attracted attention as online rumours suggested the two were dating after a photo of them looking fondly at each other went viral. In September, Musk denied having a romantic relationship with Meloni.
The image that drew attention was from a black-tie event where Musk presented Meloni with the Global Citizen Award from the Atlantic Council think tank. The New York Post called it a “public love-in” between the world’s richest man and the first female Italian prime minister.
In a speech before handing over the award, Musk said Meloni was “someone who is even more beautiful inside than outside”. The Italian right-wing leader replied that Musk was a “precious genius”. The businessman flew to Italy twice last year to meet Meloni in June and December.
Notably, Meloni’s interactions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi have also attracted significant attention on social media after earlier photos of the two leaders went viral, giving birth to the trend #Melodi, an amalgamation of both their surnames.
Meanwhile, Meloni’s government is also making headway in the space sector by approving a framework for foreign space companies to operate in Italy. This framework is expected to generate 7.3 billion euros ($7.7 billion) in investments in 2026.
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