Trump and Argentinean Milei Embrace in a Close Hug at Summit
Javier Milei, the passionate right-wing populist president of Argentina, embraced Donald Trump enthusiastically on Saturday, following a meeting with Biden administration officials in Buenos Aires the day before.
Trump and Milei were the keynote speakers at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington. In a video posted by a Trump campaign staffer, Milei greeted Trump backstage with excitement, calling him “President!” and pulling him in for a close hug before taking pictures together.
Milei assumed office in December, running a campaign inspired by Trump including red “Make Argentina Great Again” hats, a nod to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. His appearance at CPAC echoed popular Trump themes on issues like migration and socialism.
In the video, Trump tells Milei, “Make Argentina Great Again.” To which Milei responds with his famous phrase, “Long live freedom, damn it!”
The day after Milei met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, allegations were made that Marc Stanley, the U.S. ambassador to Buenos Aires, had advised against Milei speaking at CPAC.
Milei’s security minister, Patricia Bullrich, who was also attending CPAC, stated that Stanley had concerns about the political nature of the conference and deemed it inappropriate for Milei to participate.
Milei urged the CPAC audience to resist socialism and avoid further economic regulation. He criticized abortion access as a “murderous agenda” aiming to reduce the size of the population.
“Do not be swayed by false promises of social justice,” he said in Spanish. “Fight for your freedom, as without it, you will be led into misery.”
The State Department did not provide a comment on the situation.
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