MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
In Italy, a very public debate has begun over technology to keep government and military communications secret. At the heart of this debate is the world's richest man, Elon Musk. His company, SpaceX, is in advanced talks with the Italian government about the sale of encryption systems made by his firm. For more on this, we're joined by NPR international correspondent Ruth Sherlock from her base in Rome. Hey there, Ruth.
RUTH SHERLOCK, BYLINE: Hey, Mary Louise.
KELLY: So explain to me a bit more what exactly this deal is and why it's become so controversial.
SHERLOCK: Yeah. Well, this is a discussion between Italy and Elon Musk's SpaceX business for a $1 1/2 billion five-year deal in which Italy would make use of Starlink satellites to secure communication in its military and diplomatic services. But this story has been blowing up on the front pages of Italian newspapers here because of this personal friendship that's formed between Italy's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, with Elon Musk and with incoming President Donald Trump. And opponents see this, therefore, as a real blurring of the lines between friendship and politics and business, and Musk now stands to make a lucrative business deal at the same time as he joins the Trump administration. And Meloni has, of course, however, denied that the talks have anything to do with her personal friendship with Musk or with Donald Trump.
KELLY: Interesting. So the relationship between Elon Musk and Donald Trump has been much discussed, much reported on here. What - tell me more about the alliance that's forming between them and Italy's prime minister.
SHERLOCK: Well, they all see themselves as united against what they see as the villains of the political left. And Musk and Meloni have a lot in common. They have this love, for example, of the fantasy epic "Lord Of The Rings." The Italian right wing has kind of appropriated that story by J.R.R. Tolkien since the 1970s, and Meloni has continued that, quoting from the book in her political speeches. And Musk and Meloni are so friendly that after photos were published of them gazing at each other at an awards ceremony in New York last year, Musk felt he had to actually publicly say that he has no romantic relationship with the Italian prime minister. He tweeted that he'd gone to the ceremony with his mum. And with Donald Trump, you know, Meloni and the incoming president's views very much align. Here's Rachel Rizzo. She's a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Europe Center.
RACHEL RIZZO: They're contrarians. They're, quote, "anti-woke." They are, some would say, too strong on things like immigration, and they're all pretty nationalistic. And so they all sort of make natural allies with one another.
SHERLOCK: And this alliance is obvious in how Meloni is one of the few world leaders to have been invited to have an audience with Trump at his home in Mar-a-Lago in Florida this month. And during this visit, Trump called her a fantastic woman.
KELLY: Ruth, just step back and give us the wider picture. Whatever happens with this particularly controversial deal, how might all this impact America's relationship with Italy, with Europe more broadly?
SHERLOCK: Well, you know, from the Italian perspective, Italy might be hoping to get some reprieve from things like Trump's promise to slap tariffs on imports from European Union countries. And many in Europe are calling Meloni the Trump whisperer and saying that Italy may become the go-to country in Europe for the White House. A lot of this, Mary Louise, really comes down to a test of how much friendship at these powerful levels can ultimately affect the future of a country. That's the real question here, and I think the answer is going to play out in the coming months and years.
KELLY: Thank you, Ruth.
SHERLOCK: Thank you very much.
KELLY: NPR's Ruth Sherlock in Rome.
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