Buenos Aires Herald 
Argentine President Javier Milei made his second appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington DC on Saturday, having already taken to the stage with Elon Musk and a personalized chainsaw representing his government days earlier. He held his first official meeting with US President Donald Trump hours later, where they took a picture together.
During his speech, which he made in Spanish, Milei revisited anti-state talking points and expressed total alignment with the United States and the Trump administration.
CPAC is an annual political conference that convenes right-wing activists and politicians and was first held in Washington in 1974. Last February, it was held for the first time in Argentina. Milei also attended last year’s CPAC and met with Trump backstage.
Milei announced that Argentina wants to be the “first country” to commit to the White House’s new reciprocal trade policy. This policy is aimed at negotiating trade deals and imposing tariffs as a way of addressing what the current Republican administration says are unfair trade practices carried out by other countries.
Milei claimed that, but for Mercosur “restrictions,” he would already be seeking a free trade agreement with Washington. The Argentine president had already expressed his intentions of pursuing this shortly after Donald Trump was elected but has so far failed to gain traction with Washington.
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The Argentine president contended that both Argentina and the United States needed a “second declaration of independence,” this time a break from what he called “the tyranny of the party of the state” instead of freedom from colonial rule.
“I am talking, of course, of the end of the collectivist model and the dawn of a new age of freedom,” the libertarian economist said. “It is only by working together that those of us who want a free world can get it to move forward,” he said,
Trump headlined the final day of CPAC and referred to the Argentine president as a friend.
“He’s a MAGA guy. Make Argentina Great Again, right?” he said, pointing to Milei in the first row, while the Argentine bowed and pounded his chest.
“I kept hearing about this man in beautiful Argentina. And it is beautiful, but boy, did it have inflation,” Trump added. “Inflation made it less beautiful. I hear you’re doing fantastic. We’re very proud of you, actually. Go make Argentina great again.”
The White House X account published two pictures of Milei and Trump together later on Saturday evening. The post said that “they discussed President Milei’s groundbreaking economic reforms and how our countries can work closer together” in their 20-minute meeting and that Trump invited him to visit the White House in the coming months.
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