Jacob Sugarman 
Just over a year after being interviewed by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, President Javier Milei sat down with podcaster Lex Fridman on Saturday to explain his anarcho-capitalist vision for Argentina and express his reverence for both Elon Musk and Donald Trump.
The interview, which took place one day after Milei spoke at a gala for the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, aired on The Lex Fridman Podcast and X Tuesday afternoon.
“He’s a great fighter for the ideas of freedom,” the Argentine president said of Musk. “He’s helping the world nowadays wake up once and for all and become aware of the socialist virus. That in itself makes him a hero in the history of humanity.”
Musk was one of Trump’s single largest donors of the 2024 election cycle. Milei acknowledged that during his first encounter with the X CEO in Austin, Texas, last year, the two discussed declining demographics — a popular subject on the American right.
“He asked, ‘What about you? When are you going to move in that direction?’” Milei recounted with a laugh. “I said, ‘I have five children,’ and he responded, ‘well, the four-legged ones don’t count.’”
The Argentine president reportedly cares for four dogs that he cloned from his dead bull mastiff Conan, which he counts as his fifth. None of the animals have appeared in public since he entered the presidential residence in Olivos last December.
Milei then pivoted to Trump’s plans to have Musk and former Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy lead a new Department of Government Efficiency. The commission’s putative aim is to eliminate wasteful government spending.
“He’s very interested in what our Ministry of Deregulation [Federico Sturzenegger] is doing,” he said. “They’re going to try to replicate the model we are implementing in Argentina. Donald Trump himself is very enthusiastic. Anything that reduces regulations, cuts public spending, and takes government out of the equation means more freedom for the people.”
According to Milei, the United States, Argentina, and “the entire world” will be better off because of Trump’s reelection.
“Trump understands the nature of the cultural battle,” Milei continued. “He has openly confronted socialism. His speeches openly target socialism. He perfectly understands the woke virus, and that is of great value.”
“They criticized him, insulted him, offended him, said awful things about him, and made up all sorts of horrible stories about him. In that respect, I can say I deeply relate.”
During the interview, Milei also reflected briefly on his time at Mar-a-Lago and what it was like to meet the film star Sylvester Stallone, who was in attendance.
“No matter how hard they hit you, you have to keep going,” he said. “So many of Sylvester Stallone’s sayings are truly inspirational, don’t you think? Imagine, I’m about to give this speech, and Sylvester Stallone knows who I am. It was truly insane. I had to pinch myself.”
The full interview can be seen on X below:
