as a "great friend of Israel". Salvini also endorsed the Republican candidate in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump, whom he met in April 2016 in Philadelphia. Multiple news agencies have compared him and his views to those of Trump. In September 2018, Salvini pledged his support for The Movement, a European populist group founded by Trump's former chief strategist, Steve Bannon. Salvini condemned the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and said he wanted to help Ukrainian refugees and support the countries that accepted them. In the past, however, he praised Russian president Vladimir Putin, and took a picture of himself wearing a T-shirt with Putin's face in Moscow. In response to the criticism, he said he preferred Putin to the Italian President Sergio Mattarella. He was confronted for his past support of Putin by Wojciech Bakun, the mayor of a Polish town Przemyśl, while visiting its refugee center during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. In September 2018, Salvini endorsed conservative nationalist candidate Jair Bolsonaro in the Brazilian presidential election that year. In May 2021, he spoke at the congress of the Portuguese nationalist party Chega, saying that he wanted to unite Europe's populists, conservatives and identitarians against socialists and communists. Personal life In 2001 Matteo Salvini married Fabrizia Ieluzzi, a journalist who worked for a private radio station, by whom he had one child in 2003. After his divorce he had a daughter by his domestic partner Giulia Martinelli in 2012. He later became engaged to Elisa Isoardi, a popular TV host. After a relationship of nearly three years, Isoardi announced their split in November 2018 via an Instagram post. As of March 2019, Salvini is engaged to Francesca Verdini, daughter of the politician Denis Verdini. Salvini is nicknamed "The Captain" (Il Capitano) by his supporters. Matteo Salvini is a Roman Catholic. Salvini is an avid supporter of the football club A.C. Milan. Electoral history See also Sardines movement Notes References External links |- 1973 births 21st-century Italian politicians Conte I Cabinet Deputies of Legislature XVI of Italy Deputy Prime Ministers of Italy Conservatism in Italy Critics of Islamism Far-right politics in Italy Italian anti-communists Italian Ministers of the Interior Italian Roman Catholics Lega Nord MEPs Living people MEPs for Italy 2004–2009 MEPs for Italy 2009–2014 MEPs for Italy 2014–2019 Anti-Islam sentiment in Italy Politicians from Milan Senators of Legislature XVIII of Italy Anti-Masonry Italian political party