(Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (gentle upbeat music) - Hello and welcome to GZERO World.

I'm Ian Bremmer, and today I am talking with the President of Argentina.

Let me tell you, he's not like past presidents of Argentina or anywhere else really.

But I didn't invite him on the show just because he has a penchant for dressing up as a superhero and singing about fiscal policy, though he does.

(Javier Milei singing in Spanish) No, I wanted to talk with him because six months into his first year in office, his radical plan to save Argentina's economy seems to be working.

Despite living in one of the largest and most resource-rich nations in Latin America, the average Argentine has endured one economic calamity after another.

Milei has vowed to put an end to what he refers to in our interview as, and I quote, "100 years of decadence," which is no fun.

But can he pull it off?

We'll get into all that and more.

And later I've got your "Puppet Regime."

- Yeah, since I left the presidential race, I've been spending a lot more time focusing on me.

- But first, a word from the folks who help us keep the lights on.

- [Announcer] Funding for GZERO World is provided by our lead sponsor, Prologis.

- [Announcer] Every day, all over the world, Prologis helps businesses of all sizes lower their carbon footprint and scale their supply chains with a portfolio of logistics in real estate and an end-to-end solutions platform, addressing the critical initiatives of global logistics today.

Learn more at Prologis.com.

- [Announcer] And by... - [Announcer] Cox Enterprises is proud to support GZERO.

We're working to improve lives in the areas of communications, automotive, clean tech, sustainable agriculture, and more.

Learn more at Cox.Career/news.

- [Announcer] Additional funding provided by Jerre and Mary Joy Stead, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and... (upbeat music) (logo swooshing) (upbeat music) - What do Barbara Streisand and the President of Argentina have in common?

They both have a flare for the dramatic and they both have cloned their dogs.

Yes, indeed, Streisand has two Maltipoo copies of her dearly departed Samantha.

Milei, four identical English Mastiffs, though he'll tell you he has five, and that's because he still counts the spirit of his late canine Conan as one of his, quote, "closest advisors."

But that's where the similarities end because Javier Milei, the Libertarian economist turned TV pundit, turned President of Argentina, is what you might refer to as a rare breed.

Calling him eccentric would be kind of like calling the Pacific Ocean substantial.

The self-proclaimed tantric sex guru with a mop of unruly black hair that he claims the invisible hand of the free market keeps in place campaigned for president last year by promising to take a chainsaw literally to government spending and to eliminate Argentina's Central Bank.

He also derided climate change as a socialist conspiracy.

He called the Argentine compatriot Pope Francis a "Leftist S.O.B."

He's known universally in Argentina as El Loco, or the madman.

(crowd cheering) And then back in November, he won the election in a landslide.

But that's not what surprised me.

No, no, what surprised me is that when he won, I expected that Milei's self-styled anarcho-capitalism would be the death knell for an economy already in free fall.

But after taking office in December, Argentina's 300% annual inflation slowed for five months in a row.

His government did this by turning the 5.5% budget deficit that it inherited into the country's first surplus in over a decade, and all without destabilizing their currency and their financial markets.

Now, while Milei's shock therapy has been successful at balancing the budget and slowing inflation, the fiscal and monetary austerity has caused a deep recession.

There's no other way, with economic activity shrinking almost 10% year-on-year back in March, unemployment rising, real salaries in Argentina hitting their lowest points since 2003.

(crowd chanting) Mass protests against budget cuts to public universities back in June drew more than 400,000 people to the streets.

President Milei has also turned out to be a lot more pragmatic than his firebrand candidacy.

Argentina's Central Bank, for example, is still very much alive and well.

Back in June, the Senate passed Milei's first major economic reform bill.

Despite massive protests, there's no sign that he's gonna take his foot off the gas anytime soon, but the stakes are very high.

Argentina is a resource-rich nation and really should be the most prosperous in Latin America.

But Argentine citizens are exhausted from enduring one economic calamity after another for generations.

Can Milei's shock therapy save Argentina's economy before it kills it?

That's the question I'm posing to the man himself.

Here's my conversation with Argentina's President, Javier Milei.

President of Argentina, Javier Milei, welcome to GZERO World, sir.

(Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) So I've been watching you and your government pretty closely over the past months.

I have to say, I've been quite surprised, pleasantly surprised, with not only how much success you've been able to have with advancing economic reform, but your ability to get the former Peronists to compromise with you for the future of your country.

Can you talk a little bit about how you've done that, about how different it has been to govern compared to campaigning?

(Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) You aren't responsible for the economic crisis that your country is facing, but you are leading at a time that poverty is increasing, that life is going to be harder and you've said it multiple times, "Life is gonna be harder for the average Argentinian citizen."

Your popularity has still stayed pretty strong.

Do you believe that the people of your country are willing to take, are they willing to tolerate the hard medicine that your economy will require to set your country back on path?

(Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) Yeah, I've never seen a political figure with higher approval ratings on the back of a slogan of "There's no money."

I think we can say that that is historically unprecedented.

I wanted to ask you, I mean, you're a Libertarian, and I've also noticed that not only are you popular in Argentina, but you are popular in the IMF.

Now, historically, Libertarians do not like the IMF.

They're very mistrustful of these big, multilateral US-driven financial institutions.

Are you going to create a new alliance between the Libertarians and the multilaterals?

Is the IMF-Argentina relationship going to herald something bigger?

(Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) That's fair.

That's fair.

(Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) So let me bring you internationally a bit.

Free trade is a big part of your agenda.

My own country, Democrats and Republicans don't talk about free trade anymore.

They talk about industrial policy, they talk about tariffs.

I'd love to hear a little bit about where you think the world needs to be on trade, on boundaries, on tariffs.

What are we getting wrong?

(Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) Is the United States today, in your view, a liberal, open democracy?

(Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) I want to turn, before we close, to a couple questions on geopolitics.

You brought it up, of course.

You talked about the concern of being too close to autocrats, and when we talk about Latin America, we're talking about China.

China is the dominant trade partner with pretty much every country in Latin America right now, and they have a lot more influence as a consequence.

You've referred to the Chinese as "communist assassins," I believe.

Got a lot of attention.

But just like you talked about the IMF, you said, "Look, you've got models and then you have reality."

And the reality is when you're President, that Argentina gets a lot of investment from China, does a lot of business with China.

You can only be so angry at the people that are giving you money, so how do you balance that?

What's the right way forward for your country with China?

(Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) We can call the Chinese communist though.

I think we're okay with that, right?

I mean, I would call them that.

(Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) So in that regard, Argentina can be part, economic freedoms in Argentina, go ahead.

(Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) I haven't asked you about Israel and the Middle East.

I know you went out there.

You've been a strong and loud supporter of this Israeli government.

You've even hinted at maybe converting to Judaism.

And I'm wondering how you think about the Israeli war on the ground in Gaza.

Has it gone too far?

Do we now need a cease fire?

Should they continue?

(Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) The end, meaning, under any circumstance, no matter what the issues, it's 100%.

(Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) President Javier Milei, thank you so much for joining us today on GZERO.

(Javier Milei speaking in Spanish) (scene swooshing) (gentle music) And now I've got your puppet regime.

(quiet music) - Yeah, since I left the presidential race, I've been spending a lot more time focusing on me, learning some new things about myself, and overall it's been pretty positive.

Been learning to care for plants.

There you go, little buddy.

A plant don't care how old a fella is.

Been learning to cook.

(skillet sizzling) If I can pull together NATO, I can sure as heck pull together baked beans with pomegranate, molasses, walnuts, chard, and...

Anyway.

(upbeat music) Been learning to DJ.

It ain't brat summer, it's Pat summer.

Pat Boone.

(chuckling) This joint slaps.

I've been talking with some buddies about opening an ice cream shop.

That's a great name, Jack.

Hey, milk is still that expensive?

God, I had no idea.

No idea.

And sometimes I'll just lie there for days.

You know what, Jack, I'm starting to think I should have done this a long time ago.

What's that?

♪ Puppet regime ♪ - That's our show this week.

Come back next week.

And if you like what you've seen, or even if you don't, but you want more presidents with cloned animals, we have them here at GZEROmedia.com.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (gentle music) - [Announcer] Funding for GZERO World is provided by our lead sponsor, Prologis.

- [Narrator] Every day, all over the world, Prologis helps businesses of all sizes lower their carbon footprint and scale their supply chains with a portfolio of logistics in real estate and an end-to-end solutions platform addressing the critical initiatives of global logistics today.

Learn more at Prologis.com.

- [Announcer] And by... - [Announcer] Cox Enterprises is proud to support GZERO.

We're working to improve lives in the areas of communications, automotive, clean tech, sustainable agriculture, and more.

Learn more at Cox.Career/news.

- [Announcer] Additional funding provided by Jerre and Mary Joy Stead, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and... (upbeat music) (gentle music)