Meloni gives press conference in Rome.

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday fielded dozens of questions from journalists at an annual end-of-year press conference at parliament buildings in Rome.

Meloni told reporters that she had never spoken to Elon Musk about a potential €1.5 billion deal with his Space X company to supply secure telecommunications services to the government,  stressing that she did not use her public role to do favours for friends.

Stating that Musk was "not a danger to democracy", Meloni asked whether the problem with the tech billionaire was "that he is rich and influential or that he is not left-wing?".

The press conference took place the day after Meloni's right-wing government successfully secured the release of Rome journalist Cecilia Sala, who returned to Rome after spending three weeks in jail in Iran.

Meloni confirmed that Washington's interests had entered into the negotiations to secure Sala's release, describing it as a "diplomatic triangulation effort" with Iran and the US.

The case of Sala had become intertwined with that of Iranian engineer Mohammed Abedini Najafabadi, arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport on a US warrant, accused of supplying drone parts used to kill three US soldiers in Jordan last year.

Trump

The release of the Italian journalist came a few days after Meloni made a flying visit to meet US President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, during which she reportedly pressed hard on Sala’s case.

Meloni told reporters that the case of Najafabadi is being examined by the justice ministry and "must continue to be discussed with American friends", adding that she would have liked to discussed it with outgoing US President Joe Biden who cancelled his trip to Rome on Thursday due to the California wildfires.

Meloni downplayed President-elect Trump's talk of seizing control of Greenland or the Panama Canal, saying: "I feel confident in excluding the possibility that the US will attempt to annex territories of interest to them by force in the coming years".

She interpreted Trump's comments as “a message to some other big global players, more than any hostile claim over these countries" and said she believed he would defend Western interests once in office.

Meloni confirmed she had received an invitation to Trump's inauguration on 20 January and "will happily go" if she can fit it into her schedule.

Ants

The Italian prime minister was left flummoxed when Agenzia Vista director Alexander Jakhnagiev asked her: "Do you step on ants? Do you notice them while you walk? It came to mind because there is a popular saying that my grandmother always told me and that is, "when I step on ants it always rains"."

Meloni: "Calpesto le formiche? Se le vedo no". #ANSA pic.twitter.com/TVKyFTCnZ6— Agenzia ANSA (@Agenzia_Ansa) January 9, 2025

Meloni, first stunned, then amused, replied: "I don't know... I'm desperate. Do I step on ants? If I see them, no, I confess, but then I don't always see them", before concluding: "Is that the right answer? I'm in difficulty. What can I say....I will be more careful!".

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