Javier Milei begins another visit to the United States on Wednesday, his 20th trip since being elected president of Argentina and his fifth this year alone. He will remain in Washington, D.C., until Friday, taking part in a series of events aimed at deepening his alliance with the Donald Trump administration and demonstrating his support for Israel.
Milei is scheduled to meet with business leaders, political figures and government officials, and to speak at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. As often happens on his trips abroad, Milei will also make time to receive an award linked to his efforts to position himself as a leader of the global far right. On this occasion, he will be named a “Global Champion of Free Enterprise.”
Milei departed Buenos Aires on Tuesday night aboard the presidential aircraft, accompanied by a small delegation that includes Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, but not his sister Karina Milei, the presidential secretary and one of his usual travel companions.
His official schedule for Wednesday includes a meeting with Argentine businessman Andy Kleinman, head of Delphi Interactive, a Los Angeles-based video game developer. He will then meet billionaire Harold Hamm, founder of Continental Resources, one of the largest U.S. producers of unconventional oil and a company with investments in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale formation.
To conclude the day, Milei will attend the official Hispanic Heritage Month gala, where he will receive an award recognizing his “leadership and global impact.” He is expected to deliver the first speech of his visit there. With Brazil’s presidential runoff less than 10 days away, the event will also give him an opportunity to reiterate his support for Flávio Bolsonaro, who is challenging incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. A meeting with Eduardo Bolsonaro, the candidate’s brother, is on the agenda.
“The Argentine Case: The Challenge of Economic Growth After Decades of Populism” is the topic Milei will address on Thursday at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, before an audience of government officials, business executives, political leaders and diplomats. There he will receive the Global Champion of Free Enterprise award in recognition of his “defense of the principles of free enterprise and economic freedom.”
Later that afternoon, the president will attend a forum at the Argentine Embassy in Washington organized by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) under the theme “Expanding the Frontiers of Remembrance.”
Milei plans to return to Argentina on Friday, though he will not remain there for long. The presidential palace confirmed in recent hours that he will travel to Spain on Tuesday, October 20.
“The trip to Madrid is confirmed, and it is confirmed that I will accompany him,” presidential spokesman Adrián Ravier said on Tuesday. “It is a trip with a scheduled agenda. When the details are available, we will report them,” he added, without elaborating.
The visit to Spain will be brief, with the return flight scheduled for Wednesday, October 21. Since becoming Argentina’s president, Milei has visited Spain six times. He has met with leaders from the conservative right and the far right but has never held talks with members of Pedro Sánchez’s government, which he has insulted on several occasions. This latest visit will take place in the midst of the campaign for Spain’s general election on November 29.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition