Musk, a maverick tech mogul who has riled regulators on both sides of the Atlantic and thrown his support behind Donald Trump in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, introduced Meloni in glowing terms — as “someone who is even more beautiful on the inside than she is on the outside” and “authentic, honest and thoughtful.”
“That can’t always be said about politicians,” Musk added, in a dig at Meloni’s counterparts that was met with laughs from the crowd.
The Italian leader, meanwhile, responded by praising Musk’s “precious genius.”
The two have met several times before, with Meloni hosting the billionaire at her official residence in Rome last year, where they discussed shared interests like the West’s declining birth rates and the potential of artificial intelligence. Musk was also a guest speaker at a political festival hosted by Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy party last December.
But Monday was Meloni’s moment. Following Musk’s brief remarks — and a short embrace with the X and Tesla boss — the 47-year-old Meloni, who became Italy’s first female prime minister almost two years ago, used a 15-minute speech to espouse her vision of Western conservatism.
Apart from a brief mention of Italy’s support for Ukraine, Meloni steered clear of contemporary geopolitical concerns. Instead, she embarked on a lengthy exposition of her conservative philosophy. Using an op-ed by Anthony J. Constantini that appeared in POLITICO last year as a springboard, Meloni embarked on a passionate defense of the “values” of the West and “a civilization built over the centuries.”