Milei to investors: ‘American dream is being reborn in United States and Argentina’

President Javier Milei ended a brief midweek trip to the United States by delivering the closing speech at the 29th Annual Conference of the Milken Institute in Los Angeles.

In a speech on Wednesday afternoon, the La Libertad Avanza leader highlighted the achievements of his administration and once again proclaimed his alignment with the Trump administration.

In his 20-minute address to an audience largely made up of business leaders and investors, Milei declared that “the American dream is not dead, but being reborn in two countries: the United States and Argentina.”

“It is being reborn in the United States under the leadership of [US President Donald] Trump, who is restoring this nation to its essence, and in Argentina, where 50 million Argentines have chosen to put an end to a cycle of decadence and once more embrace the ideas that also made us great,” he continued.

The speech marked Milei’s second address at the annual conference hosted by the Milken Institute, a US non-profit think tank focused on economic policy, public health, finance and philanthropy.

The President went on to defend his administration’s policies, underlining that Argentina was undergoing a process of transformation based on economic deregulation, downsizing the state and opening up markets.

Milei argued that his model seeks to “return liberty to individuals” and sought to link it to the Trump administration.

“We are not copying a foreign model, we are returning to our libertarian roots. The core of our programme is simple: returning liberty to Argentines to run their own lives,” he continued.

Milei pointed out that the political and ideological convergence between the two governments had “reopened the possibility of a free-trade agreement” between Argentina and the United States, one of his stated objectives since taking office in December 2023.

The President insisted that Argentina had become a country that is “attractive for investments,” calling on those present to bet on the country.

“Exactly two years ago, in this same room, I invited you for the first time to bet on Argentina. Those who followed that advice saw the value of their investments increase by over 100 percent in the first year.

“Once again I invite you to bet on Argentina, not to replace the American dream but to make it even greater, to expand it worldwide,” Milei concluded.

The head of state made no reference to the scandal surrounding under-fire Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni, who is under investigation for alleged illicit enrichment and dominating the national media.

Following his speech, Milei met with 25 business leaders for talks on investment before departing for Buenos Aires, where he is due back Thursday.

Milei was introduced by conference host Michael Milken, who underlined the support the Argentine leader had received from Trump. Milken also showed a video featuring remarks by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent regarding the currency swap deal reached ahead of last year’s midterms.

“The President is a great leader who is dismantling 80 years of damage in his country,” said Milken, adding jokingly: “He never married but he has many children – his dogs!”

“If he succeeds, he can change all of Latin America. He’s liberating the people of Argentina,” the financier added.

Milei, who only arrived in Los Angeles late Tuesday, has travelled to the United States four times so far this year. He was last on US soil in March for Argentina Week 2026 in New York – incidentally around the start of the Adorni scandal.

The head of state was accompanied on his latest trip by Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, Economy Minister Luis Caputo and Argentine Ambassador to Washington Alex Oxenford, though not by his sister and Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei.

Caputo met with executives from Chevron, afterwards announcing a new project worth an estimated US$10 billion under the RIGI incentive scheme for major investments.

Among the more than 4,000 participants at the Milken Institute annual conference were International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Rafael Grossi, Honduran politician Nasry Asfura, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, United States Chamber of Commerce president Suzanne Clark, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and sports stars Tom Brady and Shaquille O’Neal. Executives from companies including Nvidia, Meta, Chevron, YouTube and HSBC also attended. 

The conference began last Sunday and concluded with Milei’s speech.

– TIMES/NA/PERFIL