When far-right outsider Javier Milei won Argentina’s elections in December 2023, international headlines dubbed him a replica of Trump. With his confrontational rhetoric, inflammatory statements, use of disinformation, and reliance on social media, the comparison was easy to make. While Trump and Milei may be mirror images of each other, their rise to power forms part of a global trend where right-wing nationalist populists are leveraging crisis and division in their countries to win elections. Besides their similarity as political outsiders with zealous crusades against big government, where do they see eye to eye on issues?
Here are three ways Trump and Milei are similar and the broader implications of their regional policy agenda.
Climate Crisis Skeptics
On his first day in office, President Donald J. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change Mitigation just like he did during his first term. As the world’s second emitter of CO2 emissions after China, the U.S. has a global responsibility to take bold action toward addressing the climate crisis. Despite this and the recent extreme weather events across the country, including the rampant wildfires followed by floods in California and flooding in Kentucky and other parts of the south-eastern U.S., Trump is dismantling the incremental progress made to address the climate crisis under former President Joe Biden. He argues that the Paris Agreement is unfair to the U.S. and bad for the U.S. economy and businesses.
Nationally, Trump is rolling back environmental protections that have global implications. The justification given is that the U.S. has an “inadequate energy supply,” requiring immediate oil and gas expansion. Framing this as a national necessity, the Trump administration announced plans to use eminent domain to drill on private land, advancing his “drill, baby, drill” philosophy. In an executive order, Trump opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for exploration, clarifying that the Endangered Species Act cannot obstruct the energy agenda. He also put $19 billion in environmental protection at the state and local levels on hold.
His administration has also outright canceled programs, including Biden’s $50 million environmental justice grant program. In the wake of this abrupt cancellation of funding, organizations, and programs have been forced to close. At the same time, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) pushed the Environmental Protection Agency to fire almost 400 employees, and hundreds of others are unsure about their jobs’ future. Employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the government scientific agency that tracks weather and works on climate, are also bracing for mass layoffs given that the executive orders attack work done on “climate,” “pollution,” and “natural resources.”
Like Trump, Milei immediately acted after taking office in December 2023 to dismantle environmental protections. The Ministry of the Environment was downgraded to a sub-secretary position within the Ministry of the Interior. The sub-secretary’s leadership later stated that climate change is real but not caused by humans; instead, it is a natural and cyclical occurrence. Milei’s omnibus law and needs and urgency decree (DNU 70/203)—whose constitutionality was immediately questioned, but was ultimately approved by the Senate in July 2024—has sought to roll back several laws related to land, mining, forests, glaciers, and fire management. The law on glaciers aims to allow mining in protected areas. On February 6, 2025, Milei attacked Argentina’s science research agency, Conicet, by saying, “How does studying Batman’s dilated anus improve people’s lives?” A decree is underway by the Minister of Deregulation that would deal severe blows to the Conicet and scientific investigation in Argentina.
Once President Trump again pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement, President Milei told the press on February 6 that he may also remove Argentina from the agreement, calling the international accords a “fraud” and “cultural Marxism.” In November last year, Milei pulled the Argentina delegation out of 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Public Health Critics
On January 22, Trump signed an executive order pulling the U.S. out of the World Health Organization (WHO), arguing that the global body mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and that some member states have undue influence over the agency. Trump attempted to start the U.S.’ withdrawal from the WHO during his first term, but this was stopped once Biden took office. Discontinuing membership is a yearlong process whereby the country must continue paying its dues, though whether the Trump administration will respect this remains to be seen. Trump’s dismantling of public health efforts also includes firings at the National Institutes of Health and the Center for Disease Control and nominating a vaccine skeptic with no medical credentials, Robert F. Kennedy, to head the Health and Human Services Department.
Milei copied Trump’s move on February 5 by ordering the withdrawal of Argentina from the WHO, saying that the institution’s recommendations and measures adopted in response to COVID was a “crime against humanity.” Both Trump and Milei disagreed with the WHO guidelines that were used to limit the spread of the virus during the height of the pandemic, especially during shutdowns. Milei’s spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, also told the press that WHO lacked independence from some of its members. In his proposed omnibus law and decree, Milei “freed” the prices of health insurance payments and changed prepaid medicine, medicines, and pharmacies, which increased costs. The public backlash and protests forced Milei to walk back these reforms.
Anti-Wokeism Champions
Both presidents are on a crusade against “wokeism” and ending “gender ideology.” At the January 2025 Davos World Economic Forum, Milei criticized the “mental virus of woke ideology,” accusing those who advance the wokeism agenda of censorship. He also equated sexually diverse people with pedophilia and gender ideology with abuse. He painted over his homophobic, racist, and misogynistic views by stating that “woke is nothing more than a systematic plan by the party of the state to justify state intervention and increase public spending.” In other words for Milei guaranteeing protection and human rights for women, LGBTQ+, and minorities is just a plot by its proponents to justify unnecessary government institutions and funds.
Milei’s rhetoric against LGBTQ+ people has led to intolerance and normalizing discrimination against sexual diversities in a country once viewed as a pioneer in LGBTQ+ rights. Upon taking office, Milei closed Argentina’s Ministry for Women, Gender, and Diversities. He later did away with the Violence Against Women hotline and the national plan to prevent teen pregnancies. The National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism (Inadi) was also disbanded.
In February 2024, the Argentine government prohibited using inclusive language and all references to the gender perspective in all parts of public administration. In November 2024, Argentina joined North Korea, Russia, and Iran in voting “no” on a UN resolution against gender violence. The president has continuously disparaged feminism, saying it seeks special privileges and claiming that his government is entirely equal. He referred to feminists of the green wave pro-reproductive rights movement as “assassins with red handkerchiefs.” On March 8, 2024, International Women’s Day, Milei converted the Women’s Salon in the Pink House to the Salon of Heroes, featuring only men.
Several of President Trump’s January 20, 2025, executive orders ended all federal diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs, mandated the recognition of only two sexes, and banned transgender women from participating in female sports. Under his orders, the Pentagon barred transgender people from enlisting in the military and stopped all gender transition procedures. Milei followed suit by banning gender-affirming care for minors, reversing Argentina’s historic 2012 Gender Identity law.
Trump’s directives have led to the firing of government employees working on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and pressure on agencies to report and eliminate activities that fall under DEI. In the name of “ending discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity,” his administration revoked President Lyndon Johnson’s 1965 Equal Opportunity order and encouraged the private sector to follow suit. So far, McDonald’s, Meta, and Walmart ended their DEI programs. Federal employees are encouraged to report their colleagues who continue any DEI work. This results in government agencies scrubbing their websites and programs from DEI language activities. Trump also reestablished the President’s Advisory 1776 Commission, which produced a report without input from historians and experts on American history. The report whitewashes U.S. history by negating the lived experiences of Afro-descendants, Women, and Indigenous communities, among other fallacies.
Trump and Milei see eye to eye on the climate crisis, public health, gender, diversity, and the culture wars. They both engage in a combative style of politics that taps into broad audiences through the savvy use of social media. Alarmingly, they are not alone. They form part of a global right-wing conservative movement and an increasing global shift towards authoritarianism. Brazil’s former President, Jair Bolsonaro, utilized similar rhetoric and actions, and while he is no longer in power, Bolsonarismo remains firm in that country. We see identical European political movements in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and Hungary. Will the Trump and Milei efforts inspire others in the region to do the same?
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Publish date : 2025-02-25 06:17:00
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