Elon Musk wasted no time getting on the phone with world leaders after helping Donald Trump win Tuesday’s presidential election.
“In the past few hours, I’ve heard from my friend Elon Musk,” Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on X, formerly Twitter, late Wednesday night. “I’m convinced that his commitment and vision will be an important resource for the U.S. and for Italy as we work together to meet the challenges of the future.”
The premier, who leads the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, also posted a photo of the two smiling as she goes in for a hug with the billionaire owner of X. And not just polite smiles with an awkward side hug—ecstatic grins and a full-frontal arm wrap.
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Musk has been one of Trump’s biggest election boosters, donating more than $122 million to pro-Trump super PACs, running the campaign’s ground game in key swing states, and turning the social media platform X into a cesspool of election misinformation. He’s likely to get a high-level government appointment in return.
He and the Italian prime minister have been so friendly in recent months that Musk took to X in September to clarify there’s nothing romantic between them, after a photo circulated of the pair gazing at one another during a gala dinner.
The world’s richest man flew to Italy twice last year to meet the prime minister, who is interested in technology, AI, and fantasy novels. (Like many Italians belonging to political parties with neo-fascist roots, she’s a huge fan of Lord of the Rings in part because of its nationalist undertones.) In September, Musk presented Meloni with a controversial award from the Atlantic Council in New York.
While most CEOs avoid overtly political activity, Musk has met with more than a dozen heads of government, including Meloni, over the past three years, according to CNN. In late October, the Wall Street Journal revealed the SpaceX chief had also been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his aides since late 2022.
Russia was delighted with Trump’s victory, with members of the state-controlled media predicting Trump would “blackmail” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into ceding Ukrainian territory in part by having Musk cut off Ukraine’s Starlink satellite access.
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