At the end of December last year, Argentine President Javier Milei sat down with Andrés Oppenheimer for a wide-ranging interview on CNN Español.

In classic Milei fashion, he didn’t hold back: chainsaw symbolism on full display, sharp jabs at socialism, regional dictators, legacy media, and international bureaucracies, all while laying out his vision for Argentina’s future.

Clips of the interview have gone viral on X in the aftermath of Nicolás Maduro’s dramatic capture by U.S. forces on January 3. A thread containing clips released Monday morning has already ratcheted up over half a million views.

The libertarian firebrand, who campaigned with a literal chainsaw as a prop for slashing government waste, proudly waved it again during the chat.

“This is one of the greatest symbols of the administration,” he said, before brandishing his economic scorecard: a 30% real-term cut in public spending, zeroing out the Treasury deficit in the first month and the Central Bank one within six.

Milei quoted Milton Friedman and Murray Rothbard – two prominent libertarian economists –  on how public spending size truly measures fiscal pressure resulting in his wins.

"All my campaign promises are on their way to be fulfilled: The first zero-deficit national budget has passed. The Fiscal Innocence bill has already passed as well. The Senate is about to treat the Labor Modernization bill and the Glacier bill. And as soon as Congress reassumes we have in line the Tax Reform bill, and the Tightening of the Penal Code bill,” he said.

Foreshadowing Maduro's Capture

Responding to Colombian President Gustavo Petro's accusation that he is 'nostalgic for Mussolini,' Milei dismissed the claim as ignorant and doubled down on his view that fascism and Nazism are variants of socialism.

"It is interesting that Petro is so ignorant... when Mussolini talked about Fascism he said 'everything within the State, nothing outside the State, and nothing against the State.' Meaning, Fascism is a socialist form," Milei said.

"Whether it hurts them or not, whether they accept the fact or not, both Nazism and Fascism are aspects of socialism. They not wanting to accept it, is their problem. Before I reject freedom ideas and embrace socialism, I'd rather not to be in this world anymore."

Milei also took aim at Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in what was a remarkably prescient foreshadowing of the capture of the dictator days later by U.S. forces. In the interview, Milei hailed the potential of thwarting Maduro a "pivotal blow against regional narcoterrorism." 

Comparing Maduro's regime to Cuba under Fidel Castro in the 1970s, Milei said: "The Maduro regime is to Latin America today what Cuba was in the 70s. Twenty-first-century socialism tries to instill communism via the democratic route. But then, due to the very dynamics of these regimes, they end up in totalitarian situations."

Milei accused Maduro of contaminating the continent with "spies, subversive acts, and working against other governments that differ from 21st-century socialism," adding that countries aligned with leftist ideologies are "financed by this murderous narco-terrorist, so they wouldn't condemn Maduro."

Milei said: "I agree with the United States moving forward, and if they need my support they will have it. It is a dictatorial narco-terrorist regime, that has infected the entire continent by injecting money to create problems in all those governments that do not answer to 21st-century socialism. I don't care at all what a narco-terrorist murderous liar person like Maduro has to say."

Legacy Media, Economists & Institutions

Milei addressed criticism from traditional media outlets, attributing their hostility to his policies.

"Legacy media certainly plays a part. Since I have cut off all their State-funding advertisement, they minimize the good we do; the not-so-good they portray it as bad; and the bad is a catastrophe to them," he said.

He criticized media's reliance on flawed experts for its evaluation of what's going on in the world.

"And also they have on their shows certain economists that throughout these two years got everything wrong. So, what value does it have the opinion of economists who were wrong on everything?"

Turning to global institutions, Milei called for the United Nations to abandon its "woke agenda" and return to its foundational purpose.

"They need to start changing their way. It's been failure after failure. The 'New Millennium Initiative' was a failure, the '2030 Agenda' was a failure; and the 'New Agenda'—which is the 2030 Agenda reloaded—will be a failure," he said.

"So, they ought to try to get out of the Woke agenda, which the only thing it does is feeding the bureaucracy, but not improving anyone's quality of life. It is full of well-intended titles, but their consequences are disastrous for the world."

Milei said: "The U.N. should return to its original mandate. A place where countries came together to avoid conflicts, and improve their relations. They need to stop imposing agendas that destroy countries."

Milei said he was aligned with U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when it came to the role international institutions play in global politics.

Personal Motivations and Future Plans

In the most revealing part of he hour-long interview, Milei described his presidency as a temporary "job" driven by a quest for historical glory rather than power.

"Due to the rules by which I entered, once I'm done I will leave politics. Once I finish either my first term or my second term, I will no longer be in politics," he said. "The day I finish this I plan on going to live in a ranch by myself, with my dogs, and devote myself to writing and giving lectures."

Milei, who currently lives in a renovated toolshed on the presidential grounds, explained his motivations for the simple living quarters, which mirror Elon Musk’s trailer at the Starlink headquarters in Austin, Texas.

"I've already discovered what gives me happiness in life, and I act according to it. Generally some people want power out of greed, out of lust, or out of ego. Well, fortunately I have no problems on greed, nor lust; and my approach to Judaism, and my admiration for Moses, keeps my ego in check all the time. So, I take this as a job. I've come here only for the glory. I'm interested in making history. I shall write the pages of history that the Argentine people allow me to, and then I'll change jobs," he said.

Milei has previously indicated that he may convert to Judaism after his Presidency but would refrain from doing so before his term ended as it may not be “appropriate”.

Ambitions for Historic Reforms

Milei expressed grand aspirations for his administration's legacy.

 "From there on there are more reforms to be made. Just to give you an idea: there are 600,000 Executive Orders hindering the economy. We've worked on the 70,000 that were digitalized. As soon as we have the other 530,000 digitalized, we'll go over them," he said.

"We have already made 13,000 structural reforms in two years. I plan on being not only the most reformist presidency in the history of Argentina, but in the history of humanity. I am strongly committed in making Argentina the freest economy in the world. I may succeed or not. But if I don't, I have hope that whoever comes after me will succeed," said Milei.

The interview, clips of which have gone viral on social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), underscores Milei's polarizing style and his alignment with global conservative figures. As Argentina continues its economic reforms under his leadership, Milei's unfiltered remarks are likely to fuel ongoing debates in Latin America and beyond.