The day after President Trump opposed world leaders around the world with the most shrewdest tariff set, he is set to fly to Florida, and we may see one leader he called “favorite president.”
Its leader, Argentine President Javier Mairay, won the award at the right-wing gala at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday. Trump was also scheduled to be there late Thursday — Mairi said Trump would win the award too — and Miley said he hopes the two meet.
It was Mairi's 10th trip to the United States in 15 months as president, and almost every time he met Trump or Elon Musk.
Trump assumes he is strictly restructuring foreign policy about what's good for the US.
So, what can be perplexed by the front rows of American allies about his promotion in Argentina is that Mairi, the sole world leaders of Trump's inauguration, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, are not particularly important as economic or geopolitical partners.
Instead, through Miley, Argentina offered Trump something else he seemed to long for: worship.
“I love him because he loves Trump,” Trump said of Miley in his speech last year. “People who love me, I like them.”
Miley has repeatedly and publicly praised Trump. He posted diagnosed images of them accepting them. He was presented to Mr Musk for a custom chainsaw. And when Miley became the first world leader to visit Trump after the US election, he danced around Mar Lago, telling the crowd, “Today is a much better place.”
Carlos Kikuchi, a conservative Argentine talk radio host, helped run Miley's campaign, told the Argentine leader “having such a smooth relationship with Trump and Musk is like touching heaven.”
Miley translated his dedication into policy. A few weeks after Trump said he was pulling the US away from the World Health Organization, Miley did the same thing as Argentina.
After Trump concluded the Paris Climate Agreement, Miley's government said it is also considering doing so. Miley fired his first foreign minister for voting for the United Nations for a US embargo to Cuba, as Argentina has always had.
And after Trump began criticizing Ukraine – Argentina, a country that Mairi has long been a solid supporter, has abstained from the UN vote to condemn Russia's invasion.
Mairi has also been on a global speaking tour of sorts to become one of the loudest voices of the culture war, attacking leftists, feminists and transgender people, and attacking Trump as the champion who saves the West from “awakening ideology” with Miley's announcement.
“Every time we meet President Trump, he always says, 'I like this guy,'” Argentina's new foreign minister, Gerald Vertein, said this week. “He always says, 'He's a Magazine like me, and he'll make Argentina great again.' ”
Trump praises Mairi's work in stabilizing Argentina's economy. In fact, Miley managed to lower inflation, increase growth and balance his budget.
But for the US, Argentina remains a troubling fit as a strategic partner. The 46 million countries are geographically separated from most parts of the world and have been stuck in a cycle of economic crisis for decades.
Both countries sell many of the same things, including corn, wheat, soybeans, meat and oil. Trade between them fell 8.6% last year to $16.3 billion. According to the research group, Observatory of Economic Complexity, Argentina ranks 36th in the world when purchasing American exports.
On Wednesday, Argentina was still hit by the 10% minimum taxation applied to almost every country.
But Mairi, who describes herself as a radical libertarian, has found a bright side. “Friends become friends,” he wrote on social media, linking to Queen's song, sharing a post claiming Argentina had gained an edge over a hit with higher tariffs.
Perhaps the biggest prize for the US is a massive stockpile of Argentine strategic minerals, including lithium, a necessary component of renewable batteries. American and Chinese companies are major players in the expansion of Argentina's lithium mines, and Tesla is run by Musk – buying Argentina lithium for train batteries.
US diplomats have urged them to stay away from China, including limiting access to China's lithium and rare earth elements.
However, Argentina's trade with China is growing under Mailei, and China continues to be a larger trading partner than the US, buying soybeans, silver and beef.
So far, it may be Miley who has acquired the most from his new friendship.
Argentina is seeking $20 billion in loans from the International Monetary Fund, and Washington holds a key vote as the fund's biggest stakeholder. Argentine officials say they are hoping for Trump's support.
Lucía Cholakian Herrera contributed the report.
