Javier Milei facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Most Excellent Javier Milei
Milei in 2025
59th President of Argentina
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 December 2023
Vice President	Victoria Villarruel
Preceded by	Alberto Fernández
National Deputy
In office 10 December 2021 – 29 November 2023
Constituency	City of Buenos Aires
Personal details
Born	Javier Gerardo Milei (1970-10-22) 22 October 1970 (age 54) Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Citizenship	Argentina Italy
Political party	La Libertad Avanza (since 2024)
Other political affiliations	Avanza Libertad (2020–2021) Libertarian Party (2019–2024)
Domestic partners	Fátima Flórez (2023–2024) Yuyito González (2024–present)
Relatives	Karina Milei (sister)
Residence	Quinta presidencial de Olivos
Education	University of Belgrano Instituto de Desarrollo Económico y Social [es] Torcuato di Tella University
Occupation	Politician economist author
School or tradition	Austrian School
Signature

Javier Gerardo Milei (born 22 October 1970) is an Argentine politician and economist. He has been the President of Argentina since 2023. Before becoming president, Milei taught university classes in economics and wrote many books. He also hosted radio shows.

Milei's ideas are quite different from other politicians in Argentina. This has made him very well-known and has caused strong reactions from people. In 2021, he was elected to the Argentine Chamber of Deputies, representing the City of Buenos Aires. He focused on criticizing what he called Argentina's "political elite" and their high government spending. He promised not to raise taxes and even gave away his salary each month. In 2023, he won the presidential election, defeating Sergio Massa.

Early Life and Education

Javier Gerardo Milei was born on 22 October 1970, in Palermo, Buenos Aires. He grew up in the Villa Devoto area and later moved to Sáenz Peña. His mother, Alicia, was a housewife, and his father, Norberto, was a bus driver. His family has roots in Italy and Croatia. He has a younger sister named Karina, and they are very close.

Milei went to Catholic schools, including Cardenal Copello. At school, he was sometimes called el Loco ("The Crazy One") because he could be very outspoken. When he was a teenager, Milei sang in a band called Everest, which mostly played songs by The Rolling Stones. He also played goalkeeper for the Chacarita Juniors football team until 1989. He stopped playing football to focus on economics because Argentina was going through a period of very high inflation.

Milei became interested in economics in the early 1980s because of Argentina's money problems. He studied economics to understand why prices were rising so fast. He earned an economics degree from the University of Belgrano. He also got two master's degrees from the Instituto de Desarrollo Económico y Social [es] and the Torcuato di Tella University.

Economics Career

For more than 20 years, Milei worked as a professor. He taught subjects like macroeconomics, economic growth, and microeconomics. He taught at universities in Argentina and other countries. He has also written over 50 academic papers.

Milei worked as a chief economist for a private pension company called Máxima AFJP. He was also a head economist at Estudio Broda, a financial advice company. He worked as a government consultant and a senior economist at HSBC Argentina. Since 2012, he has led the Economic Studies division at Fundación Acordar, a national think tank. He also advised the G20 and was part of the B20. For 15 years, he was the chief economist and financial advisor at Corporación América, a private company.

Milei has written several books, including El camino del libertario (The Libertarian's Path). He was often seen on television, giving interviews about economics. In 2018, he was ranked as the most interviewed economist on TV. Milei also had his own radio show called Demoliendo mitos (Demolishing Myths).

Early Political Career

Becoming Well-Known

Milei during an interview on Todo Noticias in 2019

In the 2010s, Milei became very famous for his strong opinions and energetic style during TV debates. He often used direct language and challenged his opponents. This led many people to see him as an "anti-politician" or someone who shook things up. Even a United States senator, Ted Cruz, joked about inviting him to a Republican debate.

In 2018, he even acted in his own play called El consultorio de Milei. In 2019, Noticias magazine named him one of Argentina's most influential people. In 2020, he supported protests against the government at the time.

2021 Election Campaign

From 2020 to 2021, Milei was part of Avanza Libertad, a political party. During his campaign for the Argentine Chamber of Deputies, he walked around Buenos Aires neighborhoods. He talked with everyday people and listened to their concerns. He promised not to support any new taxes or tax increases.

His campaign slogan was "I didn't come here to lead lambs but to awaken lions." He spoke out against what he called the "political caste." He described them as "useless, parasitic politicians who have never worked" and called them "rats."

In July 2021, Milei created his own political group called La Libertad Avanza (Freedom Moves Forward). This group came in third place in the primary elections and then in the main 2021 Argentine legislative election. This allowed them to enter the Argentine Congress. They did very well in important areas like Cordoba and Santa Fe.

National Deputy Work

When Milei became a deputy, he kept one of his campaign promises. He raffled off his salary to a random person every month. He said he wanted to "return money to the citizens." He called this monthly raffle a way to get rid of what he saw as "dirty money." He explained that he believed the state was a "criminal organization" that took money from people through taxes. He wanted to give that money back.

As a national deputy, Milei was present in the chamber about half the time. By August 2023, he had not proposed any new laws or joined any special committees in Congress. His monthly salary raffle has given away a lot of money since he was elected.

Presidency (2023–Present)

Milei shaking hands with Donald Trump in February 2025

Milei posing with Villarruel in October 2022

Milei officially became president on 10 December 2023.

In 2024, under President Milei, Argentina saw big economic changes. He focused on austerity (cutting government spending), deregulation (reducing rules), and reducing the size of the government. Inflation, which was very high, started to drop. He cut many government jobs and changed the tax agency. While poverty increased early in 2024, government estimates later showed it going down. Argentina also signed a free trade deal with the European Union. Economic forecasts predict that Argentina's economy will grow in 2025.

Milei also made big changes to Argentina's foreign policy. He made Argentina closer to the United States and Israel. He has a friendly relationship with former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and U.S. president Donald Trump. Milei attended Trump's second inauguration in January 2025. He has also said that Argentina might leave the Paris Agreement (about climate change) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Argentina later announced it would leave the WHO in February 2025.

Political Positions

Milei's political ideas have been described in many ways. People have called him far right, far-right populist, right-wing libertarian, and ultraconservative. Milei believes in a minimal government. This means the government should only focus on justice and security. His ideas are based on life, liberty, and property, and free-market principles. He is against socialism and communism. He wants to make the economy more open and change government ministries. He also opposes Argentina's Central Bank and current tax policies.

Economically, Milei is influenced by the Austrian School of economics. He admires the policies of former president Carlos Menem. He supports capitalism and believes that socialism represents envy. Milei suggests cutting government ministries and solving economic problems by reducing spending and changing tax rules. He has praised the economic policies of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, calling her "a great leader."

Milei supports the right to keep and bear arms, meaning he wants fewer rules about owning firearms. He also suggests immigration restrictions for people with criminal backgrounds. In foreign policy, he criticizes the IMF and opposes trade unions. He aligns with figures like Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro. He wants strong alliances with the United States and Israel. He is careful about relations with China. He supports Ukraine against Russia and wants to talk about the Falklands War.

Personal Life

Milei (center) praying in the grave of Menachem Mendel Schneerson on 27 November 2023

Milei is not married. He has said that if he became president, his sister, Karina, would take on the role of First Lady of Argentina. In August 2023, Milei announced he was dating actress Fátima Flórez. Before that, he dated singer Daniela Mori.

Milei was raised Catholic, but he has been critical of the Catholic Church under Pope Francis. His comments about Pope Francis caused some criticism from Catholics. Milei also reads the Torah every day. He has visited the grave of Orthodox rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Before November 2023, Milei said he thought about converting to Judaism. He worried that observing the Jewish Sabbath might be hard if he became president. After he was elected president, it was reported that he planned to convert to Judaism.

Milei owns five English Mastiffs. The first one was named Conan, who passed away in 2017 from spinal cancer. Milei considers Conan his son. He had four of Conan's six clones named after the original Conan, Angelito, Milton (after economist Milton Friedman), Murray (after economist Murray Rothbard), Robert, and Lucas (both after economist Robert Lucas Jr.). Milei said he cloned Conan to "approach eternity." This process cost him about $50,000 at a clinic in the United States. He calls his dogs his "four-legged children" and thanked them after winning the election.

Electoral History

Executive

Legislative

Radio

Awards

Milei received the 2025 Genesis Prize. This award recognized his support for Israel.

See also

In Spanish: Javier Milei para niños