Argentina’s President-elect, Javier Milei, is scheduled to meet with a top U.S. security aide, President Joe Biden, in Washington, the White House confirmed on Monday. This follows Milei’s lunch meeting with former U.S. President Bill Clinton in New York.
The meeting with the former U.S. leader, whose political ideology contrasts sharply with Milei’s, was an unexpected part of the incoming Argentine president’s first foreign trip, following his run-off election victory earlier this month.
Milei arrived in New Jersey with a small group of advisors, including former central banker Luis Caputo and his sister Karina Milei, before heading to the United States. Upon his arrival, he visited the tomb of a well-known orthodox Jewish rabbi and later had lunch with Clinton.
On Tuesday, Milei is scheduled to meet with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, while his economic advisers are set to meet with senior U.S. finance officials to discuss the president-elect’s economic priorities.
Meetings are also planned with officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to present Milei’s economic plans, which include the dollarization of Argentina and the closure of the central bank. As Argentina struggles with inflation approaching 150% and soaring poverty rates, Milei will take office on Dec. 10, facing a looming recession in South America’s second-largest economy.
Meanwhile, a previously announced visit to Buenos Aires from former U.S. President Donald Trump, who shares a similar ideological stance with Milei, is reportedly unlikely to happen, according to a source close to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
This content was reported by Jarrett Renshaw, with additional reporting from David Lawder in Washington and Jorge Otoala in Buenos Aires. It was written by Brendan O’Boyle and edited by David Alire Garcia & Simon Cameron-Moore.
