Milei talks with Trump, says US is ‘copying' Argentina's 'model’

President Javier Milei declared Tuesday that the United States is “copying” Argentina’s “model,” just hours before he spoke with US president-elect Donald Trump. 

Milei, 53, revealed that one of his top ministers has held talks with billionaire tycoon Elon Musk, who may win a place in Trump’s incoming government after strongly backing the former reality TV star’s run for the White House.

Argentina’s President made the remarks just two days before he is due to fly to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for a event staged by the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Milei is expected to meet Trump and Musk while in Florida.

“I understand that it is through lower taxes and not through spurious devaluations that impoverish the population that competitiveness is achieved. In the United States they have already realised this and are copying our model,” Milei said Tuesday at an event organised by the technology company Meta in Buenos Aires. 

“In fact, Musk is in talks with [Deregulation & State Transformation Minister] Federico Sturzenegger to see how to deregulate the US economy,” he revealed, referring to his minister in charge of reducing the size of the state.

The comments came just hours before Milei spoke with Trump via telephone.

Manuel Adorni, Milei’s spokesperson, revealed in a post on X that the “President of the Nation Javier Milei had a telephone conversation with the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump.”

In his message, the spokesperson revealed details of the 10-minute private call.

“You are my favourite president,” Adorni claimed Trump told Milei during their talks.

Upon learning of Trump's victory last week, Milei congratulated him through messages on Instagram and X. “You know you can count on Argentina to make America great again,”’ he wrote in one of them.

Since taking office a year ago, MIlei’s government has embarked upon a fierce austerity campaign, slimming the government, paralysing public works projects, cutting subsidies and laid off more than 30,000 public sector staff on contracts. 

Milei spares no praise for both Trump and Musk, the world's richest person and who is expected to wield significant influence in the next US government.

By attending the donors' meeting of the conservative CPAC forum at Mar-A-Lago, Milei is snubbing his regional peers and King Felipe VI of Spain, who are meeting on Friday in Ecuador for an Ibero-American Summit.

On his return, he will receive French President Emmanuel Macron, who will visit Argentina before participating in the G20 summit on November 18 and 19 in Rio de Janeiro. After the summit, he will host Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Buenos Aires.

– TIMES/AFP/NA