Argentine President Javier Milei and United States President-elect Donald Trump met face-to-face on Thursday night, their first encounter following the US elections. The two were present at a gala at the Republican’s Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida, in which they both gave speeches and heaped praise on the other.

According to The Associated Press, Milei is the first foreign leader to meet with Trump in person since his electoral win. The two also reportedly met in private backstage, but there are no details as to what they spoke.

Milei called Trump’s win the “greatest political comeback in history,” adding that he “defied the entire establishment and even put his own life in danger.” He also praised tech billionaire and future Trump administration member Elon Musk for his work at X, which the Argentine president said has “saved humanity.”

The Tesla and X owner was also present at the event and was photographed alongside Trump and the Argentine president. The gala was in honor of The America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a nonprofit think tank founded in 2021 to promote Trump’s public policy agenda.

The rest of Milei’s 12-minute speech was peppered with his well-known jabs at the “political caste” as well as disputed facts about Argentine history. He said that “the specter of freedom is roaming the global” — a paraphrase of a famous line in the 1848 Communist Manifesto — and called Argentina “the worst example of the slavist model” in which the ruling class installed an “oppressive state” that merely lived off taxpayers’ money. 

He expressed his happiness for sharing “the love of freedom with the new U.S. administration” and ended his presentation with a famous quote from the Martín Fierro, an epic poem published in the late 19th century considered to be the founding work of Argentine literature.

“Let brothers be close, for that is the first law. Because if they fight among themselves, those from the outside will devour them.”

Trump also complimented Milei when he took to the stand. He congratulated him “for the job done for Argentina” and said it was an “honor” to have him present at the gala. 

“The job you’ve done is incredible. Make Argentina Great Again, you know, MAGA. He’s a MAGA person,” the U.S. president-elect said to applause.

All in for Trump

Although Milei has always said he would be aligned with the United States no matter what, Donald Trump was clearly his preference to be the next president. This is not only due to their ideological affinity, but also because the Milei administration believes that a Trump presidency will be more amenable to assisting with fresh funds from the IMF, something the Argentine government contends is key to lifting currency controls.

In an interview on Wednesday, Milei said he will seek a free trade agreement with the United States and expects the incoming Trump administration to “support” his government with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

Despite the Argentine president’s enthusiasm for a Trump administration, it remains to be seen if his goals of more trade with Washington are a viable option. Prior to the election, Michael Paarlberg, associate professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, told the Herald that Trump is a “nativist and economic nationalist, interested more in protecting U.S. industries than promoting global free trade.” 

In fact, he added that regardless of the outcome of the election, it was unlikely more trade opportunities would open as neither party was interested in pursuing new free trade agreements. 

“Both will be oriented toward industrial policy and nearshoring, something countries neighboring the United States are better positioned to take advantage of than Argentina.”