Argentina’s newly elected president, libertarian Javier Milei, held a surprise meeting with former President Bill Clinton on Monday during his short trip to the United States — which will reportedly not include a meeting with President Joe Biden.
Javier Milei's election in Argentina signals a global shift. His anti-left stance and cultural warfare rhetoric mirror rising global sentiments. pic.twitter.com/fN2W6J6ftd
— Next News Network 🇺🇲 (@NextNewsNetwork) November 20, 2023
During the lunch meeting, Milei and his team explained their plan for the new direction of Argentina’s government to Clinton and former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), who is currently serving as Special Presidential Advisor for the Americas.
Milei was also joined on the trip by Gerardo Werthein, who is likely to become the Argentine Ambassador to Washington. Speaking with Argentinian newspaper La Nación, Werthein explained that Clinton and Dodd had asked Milei “a lot of questions” and the president-elect “responded to all of them very clearly.”
“He explained what his plan was and how he was going to do it and as a corollary of this meeting, which we can say was very good, he deserves to carry out a project for the benefit of all Argentines, but above all, those who have the least,” Werthein told the outlet.
Werthein also confirmed that Milei made it clear during the meeting that his plan for Argentina is designed to guide the country out of the severe economic crisis it is facing thanks to decades of socialist rule. The inflation rate in Argentina is currently sitting at over 140%, while the country is facing a 40% poverty rate, a crumbling national currency and a debt of more than $40 billion owed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“In the United States there is a great work, a great collaboration to help Argentina to move forward,” Werthein told La Nación. “I was impressed by the quality with which Milei was able to explain each of the questions he was asked. He has a very clear vision of what needs to be done.”
On the campaign trail, Milei repeatedly vowed to move Argentina to “realign” its foreign policy toward the U.S. and Israel after 20 years of socialist rule pushed the country toward China, Iran, Russia and other rogue nations.
During the meeting, Clinton reportedly told Milei that the U.S. is a “friend of Argentina” and predicted that there is “more than a 50% chance” that Argentina’s economic recovery will happen quickly.
“Argentina has many friends that will join if they do the right things,” Clinton reportedly told Milei.
Despite the fact that the previous far-left, socialist government aligns politically with Clinton’s Democrat Party, the former president reportedly told Milei that he was “glad to see the end of the lost 20 years that should not have been lost,” referring to the nearly 20 years of socialist Kirchnerist-Peronist presidents who have controlled Argentina since 2003.
Meanwhile, Milei will be visiting the White House on Tuesday — but not to meet with Biden. He will instead be meeting with U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
It is unclear why Biden has snubbed the newly-elected Argentinian president, though some speculate that the decision was made because of Milei’s fierce criticism of Biden during his presidential campaign — including referring to him as a “left-wing president” and a “threat to Western values” during an August interview with Colombia’s RCN radio. In the same interview, Milei called socialists “garbage” and argued that leftist values are “envy, hatred, resentment, unequal treatment before the law, theft and murder.”
“Biden is a left-wing president,” Milei said at the time. “So it is not surprising that he is also putting the world’s leading power in check. Biden himself is a threat to Western values.”
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump has congratulated Milei on his victory and vowed to visit him in Buenos Aires soon.
NEW VIDEO: Trump congratulates Javier Milei on the big win in Argentina:
“Make Argentina Great Again” pic.twitter.com/t8T9rTeW1X
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) November 21, 2023
