President Javier Milei began his trip to Washington with two headline meetings on Thursday, before making a surprise early appearance at a summit of conservative leaders.
Milei, 54, met with the head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, and gifted a chainsaw to his "friend" Elon Musk, with whom he shares a passion for public spending cuts.
The La Libertad Avanza leader could do with some happier moments. He arrived in the US capital enveloped in the controversy following the so-called ‘cryptogate’ scandal,w which was unleashed when he promoted a cryptocurrency last week that collapsed within hours, causing multi-million dollar losses.
On the first of three days in the United States, he met with Georgieva to discuss Argentina's bid for a fresh financing line from the multilateral lender.
In a post on social media, the IMF chief said she had discussed "Argentina's stabilisation and growth plan, which is yielding significant results" with the head of state.
"Our teams continue to work constructively on a new programme," she added.
Argentina wants to reach a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund. It is currently repaying a 2018 loan worth some US$44.5 billion.
Milei is seeking fresh funds in addition to help remove strict currency controls.
'My friend' Musk
Hours earlier, Milei met with Musk near Washington, on the sidelines of the latest edition of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
Musk, who has been appointed by US President Donald Trump to head a federal spending-cutting commission called DOGE, was gifted a chainsaw with delight by Milei – a symbol of his own cost-cutting budget-slashing approach to government.
"The chainsaw arrived at DOGE...!!!," Milei wrote on the X social network, which is owned by Musk.
He also posted a video showing him entering a room at CPAC to greet the billionaire, who he called his "friend."
After a hug, Milei presents him with a chainsaw, which Musk brandishes like a trophy.
Milei was joined by Argentina's Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein, Economy Minister Luis Caputo and Karina Milei, his sister and presidential chief-of-staff.
The La Libertad Avanza leader briefly joined Musk onstage at CPAC, to hand him the chainsaw in front of a cheering crowd.
More meetings
Milei has a busy schedule while in Washington. On Friday, hewill deliver a speech at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and meet with World Bank (WB) President Ajay Banga.
The big day will be Saturday, when he will give a speech at CPAC, which will be headlined and closed by Donald Trump.
Argentina's President is a fan of Trump and a brief meeting between the two has not been ruled out.
Among the list of high-profile names, mostly from the far right, who will appear at CPAC are Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and other high-ranking members of European parties such as France's Jordan Bardella and Britain's Nigel Farage.
– TIMES/AFP
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