Argentine President Javier Milei has never been shy about his admiration for the United States. On the campaign trail he called it a “model” for economic freedom and repeatedly singled it out as the country he most intended to strengthen ties with. As president, he has traveled there six times, making it by far the country he has visited most.

While his trips show that he is prioritizing relations with the U.S., they also reveal that he is not above picking sides. During his stops in Washington DC, Austin, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York, he has met with officials from the Biden administration only once. The five other occasions have included right-wing conferences and award ceremonies from libertarian think tanks and institutions, as well as three separate meetings with X and Tesla owner Elon Musk.

One needn’t look too far to notice that all these roads lead to the same place. Or in this case, man: former U.S. President and current Republican candidate Donald Trump. And with the U.S. November 5 election just days away, it’s time to see if Milei’s chosen path will pay off.

“Milei has shown that he is willing to give the United States what it wants regardless of who the president is, but there are a couple of specific reasons why he wants Trump to win,” International Relations scholar at the University of Rosario and Argentina-U.S. relations specialist Anabella Busso told the Herald.

On one hand, he is betting that the U.S. Department of Treasury in the hands of a Republican administration can help sway the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release fresh funds for Argentina. This would be a key step for lifting the currency controls known as cepo, which analysts, economists, and even foreign diplomats say is necessary for his economic plan to eventually work.

But Milei is also counting on a Trump victory to legitimize his status as a far-right icon and cement alliances among actors engaged in the same culture wars as him. This goes not only for political figures like Spanish party VOX and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, but also for Musk, who is in lockstep with the Republican candidate.

This formula, however, is not without risks. Trump is on the opposite end of the spectrum from Milei on many issues, a protectionist in economic terms who has shown affinity for leaders that can hardly be included in the “free world” the Argentine president claims to love. And this is to say nothing of China, where Trump will come in as a........

© Buenos Aires Herald