Palazzo Chigi went on to describe such reports as “ridiculous”.

“The prime minister denies that contracts have been signed or agreements have been concluded between the Italian Government and the SpaceX company for the use of the Starlink satellite communications system,” Chigi said in a note.

“The discussions with SpaceX are part of the normal investigations that the State apparatus has with companies, in this case with those that deal with protected connections for the needs of communicating encrypted data.

“The prime minister denies even more categorically, considering it simply ridiculous, the news that the SpaceX topic was discussed during the meeting with the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump.”

Her trip came days before she is to meet US President Joe Biden during a visit to Rome from Thursday to January 12.

While no details of their meeting have been disclosed, Italian media reports said Meloni had planned to talk with Trump about Russia’s war in Ukraine, trade issues, the Middle East and the plight of an Italian journalist detained in Tehran.

She is seen as a potentially strong partner for Trump given her conservative credentials and the stability of the right-wing coalition she heads in Italy.

“This is very exciting. I’m here with a fantastic woman, the prime minister of Italy,” Trump told the Mar-a-Lago crowd, according to a media pool report.

“She’s really taken Europe by storm.”

Trump and Meloni then sat down for a screening of a documentary questioning the criminal investigations and legal scrutiny faced by John Eastman, a former Trump lawyer who was central to Trump’s unsuccessful efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.

One of the biggest challenges facing Meloni is the arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala in Iran on December 19.

Sala was detained three days after Mohammad Abedini, an Iranian businessman, was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport on a US warrant for allegedly supplying drone parts that Washington says were used in a 2023 attack that killed three US service members in Jordan.

Iran has denied involvement in the attack.

On Friday, Iran’s foreign ministry summoned Italy’s ambassador over Abedini’s detention, Iranian state media reported.

ANSA/AAP