President Joe Biden returns to Europe this week after just three days in the United States – this time flying to a luxurious medieval seaside resort that has hosted the likes of Justin Timberlake and Madonna.
The president will enjoy tranquil surroundings along Italy’s prized Apulia coast as he meets G7 leaders, just days after attending a lavish state dinner while being hosted by President Emmanuel Macron and French first lady Brigitte Macron.
There was only a brief interlude in his hometown of Wilmington and a stop at the White House in between.
The state dinner at the Elysee Palace in Paris featured guests Salma Hayek and John McEnroe, with entertainment by Pharell Williams. But Italy’s turn as host to the annual G7 confab will have its own brand of glitz.
Leaders of the rich industrial countries will gather at Borgo Ignazio, the idyllic hotel estate on the Adriatic Sea that hosted Justin Timberlake for his 2020 wedding to actress Jessica Biel.
Others who have admired the bleached buildings, surrounded by swimming pools, include Madonna and football’s David and Victoria Beckham.
Borgo Ignazio is a completely medieval town and it cost $160 million to build. It hosted Justin Timberlake’s wedding to Jessica Biel
A developer built the entire city, modeled on a 15th-century village. It features modern pools, rooms that cost more than $500 a night, and views of olive groves, coastal scenes and “farmhouse-chic” interiors, with suites priced at $2,000.
The total cost of the project was $160 million and took years to complete.
Biden’s two-day visit also includes a trip to the Castello Svevo, a medieval Norman-Swabian castle where guests will be greeted by Italian President Sergio Mattarella. Its origins date back to the 9th century.
The rural landscape will contrast with some of the grim issues world leaders must grapple with, from the war in Gaza that has cost thousands of lives to Ukraine, where a new infusion of US weapons has yet to halt Russia’s advance.
If the president has any doubts about his security, he need only look east across the Adriatic Sea, where the US Navy and allies are participating in their days-long BALTOPS, a multinational exercise.
The USS New York, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport, and the Mount Whitney, a communications platform and flagship of the 6th Fleet, are both offshore, a US Navy spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
Local Italian media even reported that Biden would spend a night aboard a US Navy ship.
Biden will join other leaders from the wealthy, highly industrialized countries of the G7
The president is flying to Italy after spending five days in France
Fit for a president: Administration officials torpedoed an Italian media report that Biden would sleep aboard one of the Navy’s offshore assets. The flagship of the US 6th Fleet and forward deployed to Gaeta, Italy, USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) is in area waters
All roads lead to Apulia: leaders gather in the Italian region at a time of tense global conflict
Italian Prime Minister and leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy (Fratelli D’Italia – FDI) party Giorgia Melonij will receive world leaders in her home country
But a government official told DailyMail.com that this is not the case.
The Navy did confirm that the Mount Whitney and the USS New York, a landing dock ship, both participated in the exercises.
(Such an unusual adjustment would raise the delicate question of where to even place a White House press pool of reporters who follow the president wherever he goes.)
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Biden’s trip to Italy’s heel comes after an extraordinary whirlwind week for a president whose passport was stamped many times as vice president and as former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
He flew to France for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, spoke about the greatest sacrifices of Army Rangers at Point du Hoc and then attended the lavish state dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron and French first lady Brigitte Macron.
Biden then flew to Wilmington and to the White House for a few days before returning to the continent.
On Biden’s checklist: Convince other allies to agree to a plan to give Ukraine a $50 billion loan, contingent on interest from seized Russian assets, as the country fights for Moscow’s territorial gains around the besieged city to stop Kharkov.
First lady Jill Biden logged even more miles, flying home to attend stepson Hunter Biden’s criminal trial in Wilmington on gun charges, then flying back to Paris for the state dinner, with the DNC covering some of the costs for the transcontinental detour took on.
This year’s summit comes after conservative parties gained influence in European Parliament elections, strengthening Meloni’s hand and pushing Macron to call new parliamentary elections in France.