Trump Meets Argentina's Javier Milei

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Facts

  • Javier Milei became the first foreign leader to meet with US Pres.-elect Donald Trump following his election victory earlier this month, as the Argentine president attended a gala dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday as a speaker.[1][2]
  • Posting on X (formerly Twitter) in the early hours of Friday, Milei shared a photo of himself alongside the president-elect, with his rally motto 'VIVA LA LIBERTAD CARAJO' (or 'long live freedom damn it').[3][4][5]
  • At the event hosted by the America First Policy Institute, Milei claimed that 'the winds of freedom are blowing much stronger' following Trump's election victory. Trump later said that Milei was a 'MAGA person' and praised his 'incredible' job in office.[6]
  • This meeting comes as Milei was set to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Investor Summit on Friday. The two first met at CPAC's annual summit earlier in February this year.[7][8]
  • Since Milei took office last December, Argentina's monthly inflation rate fell from 25.5% to less than 3%. Despite this, the Argentinian economy is still expected to contract by 3.5% this year, and the annual rate of inflation remains at 193%.[9]
  • Meanwhile, both the US and Argentina are reportedly considering pulling out of the 2015 Paris Agreement, as done by Trump in his first term. Argentina also withdrew its delegation from the COP29 in Azerbaijan just days into the two-week summit.[10]

Sources: [1]CNBC, [2]FOX News, [3]EL PAÍS English, [4]Javier Milei on X, [5]Wikipedia, [6]Buenos Aires Times, [7]BBC News, [8]Buenosairesherald, [9]Verity and [10]POLITICO.

Narratives

  • Right narrative, as provided by Buenos Aires Times and Daily News. Having saved Argentina's economy by ripping up the economic and political status quo from the inside, Javier Milei is living proof that Trump's plan for America is destined to be a huge success. Free from the chains of the global establishment, both countries are once again committed to championing the ideals of liberalism and are destined to forge a strong alliance in the years to come.
  • Left narrative, as provided by Opendemocracy and CNN. If Milei's Heritage Foundation-fuelled agenda is anything to go by, America has every right to be scared of the future under the incoming Trump administration. As minority rights, abortion access, and government spending are slashed in Argentina, ideological opponents are silenced and the public remain stuck in devastating poverty. The US must brace itself for a similar purge under the radical MAGA agenda.

Predictions