Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni praised Tesla CEO Elon Musk for his innovation and support, highlighting their strong relationship amidst critic

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni denied Thursday talking to Elon Musk about a cybersecurity deal with the American billionaire's SpaceX company following reports that sparked controversy in Italy.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Thursday she had never discussed with Elon Musk a potential deal to use his Starlink to supply secure communications for the military. Meloni, who has a good relationship with Musk,

PM says her relationship with U.S. president-elect is “very solid” and insists his recent incendiary remarks flow from a “peace-through-strength” approach.

Following Meloni's comments, Musk responded on X, saying, “And Soros is being defeated." Earlier on Thursday, Meloni also defended Elon Musk's increasing involvement in politics, stating that she had never discussed a potential deal with him to supply secure communications to Italy.

Elon Musk is a “genius” who has been wrongly portrayed as a “monster” because of his political alignment with Donald Trump, Giorgia Meloni has claimed.

Musk's Italy representative Stroppa said in his post that the deal would save Italy more than €8 billion and would be up and running in a few months, rather than the eight to 10 years it would take competitors. Stroppa is one of the people named in an Italian probe of alleged corruption in public procurement contracts, Reuters reported last year.

George Soros interferes in the domestic politics of other nations and uses his money to destabilise countries, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni said on Thursday.

Italian opposition leaders roundly criticized Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government for engaging in talks with Elon Musk’s SpaceX on a €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) deal for encrypted communications systems.

Billionaire Elon Musk is looking to carve out a role in Italy's telecommunications system by expanding his aerospace business Space X and satellite broadband venture Starlink.

Yes, Musk is pushing an ideology. But he also sees right-wing governments as a lucrative source of funds for his businesses.