Italy’s Epic Fails: From Trump to Salvini – A Critical Look

Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini proposed a Nobel Peace Prize for Donald Trump on Saturday, February 8, 2025, following a meeting in Madrid of the right-wing Patriots for Europe group. Salvini stated that Trump “has shown us that a new world is possible,” echoing the group’s slogan, “Make Europe Great Again.”

The proposal comes amid a complex and evolving relationship between Salvini and the former U.S. President. In February 2025, Marina Berlusconi, daughter of the late Silvio Berlusconi, publicly criticized Trump’s approach as “political bullying,” accusing the United States of treating its allies as “satellite countries.” Salvini directly countered Berlusconi’s assessment, asserting that Trump is “anything but a bully” and has achieved more in weeks than President Biden has in four years.

Salvini specifically cited the potential for Trump to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, as well as between Israel and Arab nations, as justification for the Nobel nomination. “If one manages to position Putin and Zelensky, Netanyahu and the Arab countries at the same table we provide him the Nobel Peace Prize,” Salvini said, according to reports from the meeting.

This public endorsement follows a period of apparent distance between Trump and Salvini. In 2016, Salvini publicly supported Trump’s presidential campaign and posted a photograph of the two together at a rally in Philadelphia. However, in a subsequent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Trump denied ever meeting Salvini, claiming he “didn’t even recognize him,” despite photographic evidence. Salvini later told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that Trump had, in fact, endorsed him at the Philadelphia rally, stating he wished Salvini would “be Italy’s prime minister soon” and that the meeting had been arranged after a dozen exchanged emails.

Salvini’s recent comments in Madrid also included criticisms of current European policies, stating that the burqa and “gender ideology” are not representative of European values. He emphasized the importance of national sovereignty, arguing that “it is not the EU that legitimizes the States but the States that legitimize Europe.”

On March 3, 2026, Salvini reiterated his belief that only Trump can bring peace, according to ANSA. The statement was made on social media and offers no further details.