The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, will travel to the United States next week and meet with President-elect Donald Trump, Argentine media reported on Thursday.
Milei’s upcoming visit to the United States will take place within the context of next week’s gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. According to the Argentine outlet Infobae, Milei will deliver a speech to CPAC in addition to holding his first formal meeting with President-elect Trump, which will reportedly take place on the fourteenth or fifteenth of November.
The Argentine president is also reportedly slated to meet Vice President-elect JD Vance and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Milei has been a vocal Trump supporter and vowed to continue working towards bolstering Argentina and the United States’ ties as part of Milei’s “realignment” of Argentina’s foreign policy closer to the United States and Israel.
The Argentine president first met Trump in February on the sidelines of CPAC’s gathering in Maryland. Trump described Milei as a “great gentleman” and “fabulous guy,” while Milei called Trump a “great president” and hoped that he would return to the White House.
Shortly after the election, Milei shared a video on Twitter of a speech he issued at a 2022 rally. At the time, Milei said that he hoped that the United States could escape “the clutches of guys like the Democrats, Biden, and [Vice President] Kamala Harris.”
“Because it will continue to be worse for the United States, because the indices of economic freedom will not stop falling — therefore, we hope that the United States can rise again with the help of Donald Trump,” Milei said.
On Thursday, Milei, in remarks commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Argentine Chamber of Commerce and Services, claimed that Elon Musk — who President-elect Trump suggested could lead a prospective “Department of Government Efficiency” — is in contact with his government’s team to replicate Milei’s “chainsaw” strategy of decreasing government regulations and streamlining the government.
Milei, who will mark his first year in office in December, has overseen a massive overhaul of Argentina’s government institutions and a reducing of government regulations on its economy, rescinding hundreds of socialist policies created under nearly 20 years of leftist administrations. On his first day in office, Milei reduced the number of government ministries from 18 to nine. In October Milei dissolved Argentina’s AFIP federal revenue service, replacing it with a new, significantly smaller and streamlined agency.
In July, the Argentine Congress passed a massive omnibus bill containing significant reforms to the Argentine state. In the same month, Milei created a Deregulation and State Transformation Ministry, presently led by Argentine economist Federico Sturzenegger. The ministry is tasked with reducing public spending and increasing government efficiency.
On Thursday, in his speech to the Argentine Chamber of Commerce and Services, Milei said:
Another ministry that is making waves around the world is the ministry headed by Federico Sturzenegger. In fact, Donald Trump himself incorporated Elon Musk to replicate the experience of what Federico Sturzenegger is doing, and, in fact, among the things he talked and chatted with Elon Musk about, he is already in contact with Federico to replicate that model.
In other words, we are exporting the model of “The Chainsaw” and deregulation to the whole world. We are changing the world, we are making a freer world. And as if all this were not enough, our Minister of Economy was elected the best Minister of Economy in the world. But here they keep throwing shit at us every day; that’s how we are.
The Argentine president visited the United States several times this year, delivering speeches and holding several encounters with entrepreneurs. Milei’s last visit to the United States took place in September to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
None of Milei’s past trips to the United States included any meetings with outgoing President Joe Biden, whom Milei repeatedly snubbed throughout the year.
According to the Argentine newspaper La Nación, Milei intends to attend Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025. Argentine government sources told the newspaper that Milei’s January trip has “been discussed for some time” but declined to give further specific details.
Following his participation at CPAC and meeting with Trump in Mar-a-Lago, Milei is slated to travel to France, where he is scheduled to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, and then to Brazil to participate in the G20 summit on November 19-20 before returning to Argentina to receive the visit of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.