Sometimes it’s useful to step away from things to look at them from above and get an overview. Leaving your bubble is also a good exercise to judge, understand, perhaps appreciate, the work of Giorgia Meloni two years after she took office and understand the dimension of Italy in the midst of everything that happens in the world. In this sense, the United States is a good observation point and I have found some observations and questions I have received regarding Meloni and his government recurrent and interesting.

Melons in the United States: the photo with Musk caused a stir

Meloni’s latest visit attracted the attention of Americans, there is no doubt, but not so much for the trip itself – it is not the first – but for the occasion. The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, does not reward someone every day and the Prime Minister received the “Global Citizen Award” directly from his hands.

In various public forums and debates I have participated in in the United States, this has been commented on a lot. The most used word to describe the Musk-Meloni partnership is “weird”. The natural interlocutor for these reflections was me, as the only Italian: “But why does your Prime Minister let Musk reward her? What do these two have to do with each other?”, a researcher asks me.

The answer is the development of new investments in the space and internet sector, something that Meloni needs more than Musk with his companies, Starlink and SpaceX. But the American entrepreneur is willingly lending his ear, as demonstrated by his two visits to Italy last year and other investments in Europe. Even if his excessive economic and technological power is impressive, it is at times unsettling: “If even NASA asked him for help… – another researcher points out – there is potentially no limit to what he can do”.

The presence of Meloni next to the billionaire arouses curiosity, even if the most informed are rightly surprised: “They do remarkable things in Italy, including helicopters, ships and space programs”, observed an entrepreneur in the American defense sector, referring to the subsidiary of It was Leonardo. There could really be a way to invest and collaborate with Musk: Meloni is trying. However, the implications remain unknown.

“But wasn’t he a fascist?”: the analogies with Trump 2 years later

However, latest developments aside, the most curious thing I have heard about Giorgia Meloni concerns her political orientation: “But wasn’t she a fascist?” a citizen asks me from the audience of a public meeting in Minnesota. The question hides a transformation.

The presidential election campaign in the USA and the war in Ukraine have, in part, brought attention back to the Italian government, due to similarities and contrasts. Premise: outside the bubble, size matters and Italy has little presence in the minds of the US administration. It is considered an important and historic ally, strategic due to its geographical position in the center of the Mediterranean and relevant for commercial relations in some markets.

What happens if Donald Trump wins

American concerns are different: diplomacy and the ruling class are thinking about future challenges with China and relations with the bloc of states that are gathering around the new Brics. And citizens always give a damn about foreign policy, some are even irritated by it, and prefer that Harris or Trump deal with their economic well-being rather than with events perceived as “distant”: and this is very clear from the coverage of economic issues in campaigns of the two candidates.

When Meloni was elected, the international press reported the news, highlighting the return to power of a neo-fascist party, Brothers of Italy, as had not happened since the Second World War.

In the following months, however, they also noticed something else: after arriving at Palazzo Chigi, the extremism shown by Meloni, the one that had allowed her to win the elections, was softened. Anti-European sentiments, for example, gave way to open collaboration with the Von der Leyen Commission. The register has changed compared to expectations: “It was moderate, institutional I would say”, the comment of another citizen during a meeting in Iowa.

But there is also immigration and this is where many have noticed something. It is the issue on which Meloni showed the extremism that was expected – and which allowed her to come to power -, between anti-NGO laws and migrant camps in Albania. “There are points in common with Trump, they seem to say the same things about immigration. So what is the real Meloni?”, asks a journalist, now retired, from the audience. The question belongs to many observers and analysts.

Meloni has come a long way, going from 3 percent a few years ago to being accredited on the world stage as a leader. The much talked about appearance with Musk is only the confirmation of a process that has been underway for two years. The path is recognized by everyone, the “where” this path will take us will be the definitive answer to the question that many ask themselves, even in the United States: “What is the real Meloni?”.