Italy's Marina Berlusconi lauds Meloni, voices doubts on Trump

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore

24/10/2024 13:15

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      Late Silvio Berlusconi's daughter not entering politics
    

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      Marina backs PM Meloni, Forza Italia leader Tajani
    

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      'If I had to vote today in the U.S. I would be in trouble'
    

  
    By Giselda Vagnoni
       ROME, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Marina Berlusconi, the daughter
of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi whose family are
still the main financial backers of his powerful political
party, praised the right-wing Italian government but said she
does not plan to run for office herself.
    Looking at the U.S. presidential election she said it would
be difficult for her to choose between Republican Donald Trump
and Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, as candidates.
    "If I had to vote today I would be in trouble. I fear that
the U.S. is destined for a long season of divisions and
contrasts," she told journalists at an event in Rome late on
Wednesday.
    The 58-year-old entrepreneur is the eldest heir of the late
Italian media tycoon who founded the conservative Forza Italia
party in 1994 and dominated Italy's political landscape until
his death last year.
    Forza Italia is currently part of Prime Minister Giorgia
Meloni's right-wing government, with its leader Antonio Tajani
serving as deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister.
    Marina, who along with her brother Pier Silvio manages the
family's Fininvest business empire, said neither she nor her
brother were seeking an active role in politics.
    
    'TRUMP IS NOT LIKE MY FATHER'
    The Fininvest president made headlines last year when she
criticized Italy's windfall tax on banks, underlining divisions
over the issue in the coalition government. The original measure
was eventually shelved.
    Berlusconi made clear that she broadly appreciated the way
Meloni, in power since 2022, was handling Italy's strained
public accounts and its foreign policy.
    Former president Trump, who is seeking re-election next
month, has been compared to the late Berlusconi as a tycoon
turned politician and for his outspoken personality.
    Marina rejected such a comparison saying that while her
father was a "true liberal", Trump's ideas are "based on many
-isms: nationalism, extremism, protectionism, isolationism."
    "I have always been pro-Republican, but many of Trump's
statements leave me perplexed," she added referring to what the
Republican candidate said about the possibility of the U.S.
leaving NATO and his protectionist positions on trade.
 

 (Reporting by Giselda Vagnoni; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
 ((mailto:giselda.vagnoni@thomsonreuters.com; +39 06 85224210;))