Former U.S. President Donald Trump will travel to Buenos Aires to meet with Argentina’s President-elect Javier Milei at an undisclosed date, Milei’s press office said in a statement published on Thursday.
According to the statement, Trump held a phone conversation with Milei on Wednesday evening, congratulating Milei on his victory in Argentina’s November 19 presidential runoff election, in which the libertarian economist defeated outgoing socialist Economy Minister Sergio Massa with a nearly 12-point lead.
During the conversation, Trump reportedly pointed out that Milei’s victory in Sunday’s election had a “great impact worldwide.”
“Trump anticipated that he will travel to the City of Buenos Aires to meet with him,” the statement concludes.
Argentine journalist Luis Majul of the La Nación Más news channel stated on his Twitter account on Thursday that the telephone conversation between Trump and Milei was facilitated by Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Milei himself confirmed his statement by responding, “That’s right,” to Majul’s post.
Trump was among the first to congratulate Milei, posting the slogan “Make Argentina Great Again” on his Truth Social platform minutes after Milei was elected on Sunday. Trump expanded on his congratulations Tuesday through a video posted on Truth Social.
“A very special congratulations to Javier Milei on a great race for president of Argentina,” Trump said in his video message to Milei. “The whole world was watching, and I am very proud of you. You will turn your country around and truly make Argentina great again, congratulations!”
Milei has been openly supportive of former President Trump’s economic policies, praising him for being one of the few who fully understood that “the fight is against socialism, it’s against statists, and perfectly understood that the generation of wealth comes from the private sector.”
“From my humble position, I would say [to Trump] to redouble efforts from the same position — don’t give the socialists any respite, not even for a second,” Milei said in an interview with Tucker Carlson in September.
President Joe Biden held a telephone conversation with Milei on Wednesday, in which Biden “applauded the conduct of the election as a testament to the strength of Argentina’s democratic institutions” while discussing the importance of continuing to build the relationship between both countries.
Milei has vowed to “re-align” Argentina towards the United States and Israel after previous leftist administrations pushed the South American nation toward China, Russia, Iran, and other nations.
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The Argentine president-elect, who has openly stated that he is considering converting to Judaism from Catholicism, has expressed his intention to conduct a “spiritual” trip to the United States and Israel prior to his inauguration on December 10.
Milei was reportedly slated to kick off this trip on Friday, traveling to New York to visit the grave of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, in Queens — but ultimately decided to postpone his trip amidst changes pertaining to the cabinet of ministers that will go into effect once he takes office on December 10 and succeeds the outgoing leftist government of President Alberto Fernández.
The Argentine news website Infobae reported that although Milei’s presently postponed visit to the United States was strictly of a personal nature and had no official meetings scheduled, the Biden Administration allegedly offered him a “very high-level agenda.”
According to Infobae, Milei should be back in Buenos Aires from his New York trip by Saturday evening.
Milei previously visited New York in July and visited Miami in September to observe Shabbat with friends and members of the Jewish community.