Argentina's Milei is a VIP at Mar-a-Lago as Trump, Musk embrace his attacks on government spending

Self-described anarcho-capitalist President Javier Milei of Argentina became the archetypal overseas person to sojourn President-elect Donald Trump since helium won a 2nd term, arriving successful Florida connected Thursday to be a gala meal astatine Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, wherever Milei was a VIP speaker.

"The satellite is simply a overmuch amended place, and the winds of state are blowing overmuch stronger," present that Trump had been elected, said Milei.

He called Trump's Nov. 5 victory, "The top governmental comeback successful each of history, defying the governmental constitution adjacent astatine the hazard of his ain life."

Milei besides name-checked different attendee successful the gala crowd: Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

"I would similar to convey the large Elon Musk for the fantastic occupation helium has been doing to prevention humanity," Milei said done an interpreter.

Milei's beingness successful Florida connected Thursday, and his lukewarm words for Trump and Musk, connection a glimpse of what is an evolving, and important, dynamic betwixt the 2 American billionaires and a person who has promised to prevention Argentina's long-struggling system done "shock therapy" — heavy spending cuts and slashing regulations. 

Musk and Milei are already large fans of each other. They've met respective times, and Milei has been to the Tesla mill and posted photos of the 2 together.

A photograph Milei posted successful September shows Musk sporting a "dark MAGA" hat, Trump's run logo written successful achromatic connected black.

Photos from the Thursday gala posted connected societal media showed Musk, Milei and Trump together, each smiles.

Musk has spent the past week astatine Mar-a-Lago, acting arsenic 1 of Trump's closest advisors arsenic the president-elect fills his Cabinet with unexpected picks — respective of whom person promised to bring their ain benignant of daze therapy to the national agencies they've been chosen to lead.

Trump has besides announced that Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy volition pb a "Department of Government Efficiency," that volition beryllium dedicated to drastically cutting the national budget.

The announcement fulfilled Trump's run committedness to springiness Musk a large relation advising his medication connected government spending. Despite the name, the DOGE volition not beryllium a national agency, acting alternatively arsenic an extracurricular advisory sheet to the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Still, Musk claims helium tin chopped $2 trillion retired of the astir $6.75 trillion U.S. budget. The lone spot wherever cuts connected this standard person been implemented successful caller years is Argentina, nether Milei.

"All authorities spending, it either becomes ostentation oregon nonstop taxation. The Department of Government Efficiency is going to hole that," Musk said astatine Trump's Madison Square Garden rally past month.

To recognize the origins of Musk's conception of reducing the national fund by a third, see what Milei has accomplished.

Since taking bureau past December, Milei has chopped Argentina's federal spending by 32%, according to the Center for Argentine Political Economy, oregon CEPA.

In a state wherever yearly ostentation rates person topped 300% and destabilized the nation, this October, ostentation successful Argentina deed its lowest level since 2017: 2.7%

Much of Milei's docket comes down to eliminating national spending. And according to Milei, Musk has turned to Argentina's enactment to find retired how.

"The U.S. has noticed and is pursuing our example," Milei said astatine a Meta Day Argentina league Tuesday successful Buenos Aires. "Musk is speaking to [Minister of Deregulation] Federico Sturzenegger astir however to deregulate the U.S. economy."

In Argentina, Milei reduced the fig of ministries by 13, leaving lone nine. More than 30,000 nationalist assemblage workers were fired. He halted each infrastructure projects.

The drastic cuts person had arsenic drastic consequences, throwing Argentina's system into a heavy recession. Argentina's GDP fell by much than 5% successful the archetypal 4th of 2024.

However, the World Bank estimates that the worst is over, and that by the extremity of the year, the wide contraction volition beryllium astir 3.5%. The slope besides predicts that Argentina's GDP volition turn 5% successful 2025.

To beryllium sure, cuts of this magnitude would apt beryllium overmuch harder to execute successful America than they were successful Argentina. To start, Argentina's nationalist fund is overmuch smaller than the U.S. astatine astir $101 billion, which is little than the fund of New York City.

But dissimilar Milei, it's not wide whether American voters person fixed Trump a mandate to chopped spending similar Argentine voters gave their president.

Reducing the national fund was Milei's No. 1 run promise; helium often carried a chainsaw astir with him connected the run way arsenic a awesome of his determination to destruct bloated authorities spending.

Milei won his predetermination past twelvemonth by 10 points, suggesting that a important bulk of voters were connected committee with his plan.

Trump, meanwhile, campaigned connected securing the borderline and improving the economy, but mostly done taxation cuts and tariffs. Fiscal restraint did not fig prominently into Trump's run platform.

This world has not gone unnoticed by the markets.

Since Trump's election, there's been a notable emergence successful semipermanent U.S. involvement rates, suggesting the imaginable instrumentality of the alleged enslaved vigilantes.

Coined by Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research backmost successful 1983, the operation "bond vigilantes" refers to the conception that if fiscal and monetary authorities won't power their spending, the enslaved marketplace will, by imposing overmuch higher borrowing costs.