Donald Trump has long praised a specific foreign leader: men he describes as “tough” and “strong,” even as they have undermined their countries’ democratic norms.
The former US president and Republican front-runner is now celebrating Argentina’s new leader, Javier Milei, a wild-haired, chainsaw-wielding “anarcho-capitalist” nicknamed “the crazy one” by his admirers.
“Very special congratulations to Javier Milei on his wonderful run for the presidency of Argentina,” Trump said in a video posted Tuesday on his social media site that echoed an earlier statement. “I’m very proud of you. It will reshape your country. ” And actually make Argentina wonderful!»
Illustration: Mountain People
Milei’s resounding victory provides Trump with a potential new best friend if he regains the White House and underscores his lasting influence on global politics in the decade since he first ran for the U. S. presidency. It is also the most recent example of the strength of the right. left-wing populism that flirts with authoritarianism and the anti-governance fever that is spreading across much of the world.
“It’s much more populist than it used to be,” said Steven Levitsky, a political scientist at Harvard University and co-author of How Democracies Die.
Levitsky cited several global trends that have reshaped Argentine and U. S. politics. Among them: the repeated economic crises the world has experienced since 2008, the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the success of social media.
Populism and anger at the perceived status quo may shape not only next year’s U. S. presidential election, but also votes around the world. Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Mexico, India and Pakistan are expected to vote to elect their new leaders next year. year.
“Voters need figures who are visibly on the fringes of the political status quo and who necessarily need to attack the status quo,” Levitsky said.
Milei fueled comparisons to Trump during his campaign, praising him in an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and peddling unproven theories about voter fraud in his own career before his victory. Many of Milei’s supporters made caps and T-shirts with the slogan “Make Argentina Great Again. “-Regular T-shirts during the campaign, echoing Trump’s slogan.
He spoke of bringing a chainsaw into government and abolishing Argentina’s central bank and key ministries, adding fitness and education, while Trump has proposed cutting government agencies criticized by some conservatives.
His calls to purge the “political caste” of the Argentine government and Trump’s calls to “drain the swamp” and annihilate a “deep state” that he says opposes him in Washington.
Milei still won three of Argentina’s 24 provinces, and his opponent relented before the electoral government began pronouncing the initial results. However, before winning the second round, he promoted unproven accusations of irregularities in the first circular of the elections, suggesting that they “cast doubt on the result. “
He also promised in a radio interview Monday to privatize state media that covered him negatively and which he considered “a secret ministry of propaganda. “
Trump continues to publicize lies about the election he lost to U. S. President Joe Biden and has attacked the media he considers hostile as “enemies of the people. “
“There is a mutual influence,” said Gimena Sanchez-Garzoli, Andes director for the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights organization.
Both men are products of the same social forces, he said.
Sánchez-Garzoli, who traveled to Argentina to practice the elections, described widespread dissatisfaction with the political order in the region, where liberal democracies fail to satisfy the fundamental desires of their populations. This creates a sense of disillusionment and great polarization, he said. especially among the younger generations who have responded by saying, “Let’s burn everything down and go through something absolutely different. “
“They feel like this user is different, that’s why they have to be different,” he said.
Beyond sharing political goals, Trump and Milei are also stylistically similar: Both are famous as celebrities who have a sense of machismo and thrive “by being as flamboyant as possible for ratings,” he said.
“What Trump did was violate regulations on how to communicate things,” he said.
“I think he managed to go after his warring parties without any restriction, without respect, and exterminate them at any time,” which, he said, is not the kind of rhetoric “that we’ve noticed before right now in Latin America. “
It is unclear whether Trump and Milei could strike up a friendship, as Trump did with the South American leader, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, once dubbed the “Trump of the tropics. “
Bolsonaro, who traveled to the United States during his presidency and spent time at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, also carried out a staunchly pro-Trump crusade that imitated the former president’s tone and style. He has also made unsubstantiated allegations of fraud. after his defeat last year, which culminated in an attack on Brazil’s Capitol, eerily reminiscent of the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States.
However, while Trump is now the front-runner for the Republican nomination, Bolsonaro has been barred from running for office until 2030 for abuse of power.
Trump’s crusade answered questions about whether he and Milei had spoken since Milei’s victory or intended to do so.
However, Trump has long had an affinity and respect for authoritarian leaders and populist strongmen, saying that “the harder and meaner they are, the better I get along with them. “
Among the leaders, he praised Hungary’s Viktor Orban, China’s Xi Jinping (習近平), Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.
In recent years he has been seduced by Orban, after an interview in which the Hungarian leader attacked Biden’s management and stated that the only way to end the war in Ukraine would be Trump’s re-election to the White House.
Speaking Saturday at an event in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Trump spent several minutes congratulating Orban and said he was “very honored” by the comments of a guy he called “one of the most powerful leaders. “
“He’s a very strong, very strong, tough man, and one of the most reputable leaders in the world. There are no games, right? Hungary,” Trump said of the country, which European lawmakers said last year was no longer a democracy and instead had “a hybrid regime of electoral autocracy” under the leadership of his nationalist government.
Trump also went on to praise Xi, describing him as “a guy who looks like a piece of granite, doesn’t he?It’s as strong as granite. It’s strong. “
“He’s a fierce person. Now, the press doesn’t like it when I say smart things about [him], but what can I say?”He regulates 1. 4 billion other people with an iron fist. “
He used language to describe Putin, drawing complaints from his rivals in the Republican primaries.
Trump has long defended his use of such language, insisting that his comments are statements of fact and flattery.
“If I say that a confident leader is wise and controls a giant part of the world, the press is disappointed because I say wise because it’s a wise thing. No, no,” he said. They are very wise people. “
Additional information via Daniel Politi