‘I can be a friend of Elon Musk and…’: Meloni defends personal ties with Tesla CEO in Italy parliament

Defending her friendship with tech billionaire Elon Musk after their frequent sightings together sparked online buzz that the two were “dating”, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday said that she “can be a friend of Elon Musk” but at the same time also assured the Italian lawmakers that she would not be influenced in areas where Musk has economic interests.

“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,” AP quoted Meloni as saying while responding to questions during a parliamentary discussion ahead of a European Union summit in Brussels.

Addressing concerns about potential conflicts of interest, Meloni said she had good relationships “with many people” but she didn’t take orders from anyone.

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”, The Independent quoted her as saying.

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Meloni’s remarks follow her frequent meetings with Tesla and SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk after her far-right coalition took power in 2022. After Donald Trump’s 2016 victory, Meloni congratulated Musk, who played a key role in Trump’s success.

Rumors of a romantic relationship between the two arose after a viral photo of them at a black-tie event, where Musk presented Meloni with the Global Citizen Award. Musk denied the rumors in September.

During the award presentation, Musk called Meloni “even more beautiful inside than outside,” and she described him as a “precious genius.” Musk visited Italy twice last year for meetings with Meloni in June and December.

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Meloni’s interactions with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also gained attention on social media, sparking the #Melodi trend.

Additionally, Meloni’s government has approved a new framework for foreign space companies, expected to generate €7.3 billion in investments by 2026.

With inputs from agencies