Giorgia Meloni, an Italian Trump?

There is a veritable ‘Melonimania’ sweeping through the international media and much of the right in the United States and Europe. The Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who was involved in a neo-fascist movement in her youth, is being hailed as a strong, respectable, democratic and pro-European leader. This article seeks to understand who Giorgia Meloni and her party, Brothers of Italy, are, and what the leader is doing to Italian democracy, but also what Italian democracy is doing to Giorgia Meloni. Firstly, it clarifies the key concepts most commonly used to characterize Giorgia Meloni and Brothers of Italy: fascism, neo-fascism, post-fascism, national conservatism and populism. Secondly, it traces the trajectory of Giorgia Meloni and her party in order to offer a characterization of them. It assesses some of her public policies and demonstrates that one cannot speak of illiberal democracy in Italy. Finally, it analyses the relationship between Giorgia Meloni and the Trump administration in order to identify their points of convergence and disagreement.