Headed back to the presidents’ club? Donald Trump hugs eccentric Argentinian leader Javier Milei ahead of stunning primary win against Nikki Haley in her home state of South Carolina

Former President Donald Trump received a hug from Argentina’s new president and major Trump acolyte Javier Milei at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday.

Trump took another step toward a November general election rematch with Joe Biden by decimating Nikki Haley in her home state during the Republican primaries in South Carolina.

But before that, he was backstage at CPAC when he met Milei, who took office in December after running a Trump-inspired campaign, complete with red “Make Argentina Great Again” hats in a nod to the country’s own “Make America” ​​lyrics the former president. Great Again’ movement.

He was the latest of a number of foreign politicians at CPAC to repeat popular Trump themes on issues like migration and the perceived threat of socialism.

In the video, Trump tells Milei: “Make Argentina great again.” Milei then said his famous line: “Long live freedom, dammit!”

The results were announced just seconds after the polls closed on an embarrassing night for Haley, who has vowed to stay in the race even as her path to the nomination quickly closes.

The Argentinian’s appearance at CPAC came a day after he met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

A senior Milei official claimed that Marc Stanley, the US ambassador to Buenos Aires, had suggested that Milei not speak at CPAC.

Milei’s Secretary of Security, Patricia Bullrich, who also attended the meeting south of Washington, said Stanley told Milei’s office that he thought the conference was “very political” and that it was not appropriate for him to participate.

“It was an honor to come,” Bullrich said. “He comes here as a speaker, to give a general speech, not to talk about the elections.”

Milei urged the CPAC crowd to end socialism and not approve further regulation of the economy. He also called abortion access a “murderous agenda” to reduce the size of the population.

“Don’t be led by mermaids singing social justice,” he said in Spanish. ‘Don’t give up your freedom. Fight for your freedom, because if you don’t fight, you will end up in misery.”

Trump congratulated the new leader on the night he was declared the winner last November, writing on Truth Social: “Congratulations to Javier Milei on a great race for President of Argentina.

‘The whole world was watching! I am very proud of you. You will change your country and truly make Argentina great again!’

He also posted a photo of Milei posing with the Gadsden flag emblazoned with the words “Don’t Tread On Me,” long considered a symbol of libertarian politics.

In a speech after his dramatic victory, he promised that “Argentina’s reconstruction begins today” and echoed Trump in saying he would “drain the swamp.”

The two may end up working together again sooner or later, as the hug came hours before Trump declared his own quick victory at his election party at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia, saying with a grin, “This was a little earlier.” than we expected.’

Trump’s victory builds on the rising momentum he built after victories in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

But Trump is shifting his messaging away from the primaries and telling his voters to start focusing on the general election in November.

“Nine months is a long time,” he noted of the timeline before the presidential election later this year. “I wish we could do it faster.”

“You know, in certain countries you can call your election date,” he added. ‘If I had the right to do it, I would do it tomorrow. I would say we have an election tomorrow.”

The former president does not want to lose the momentum he believes he has as a result of his landslide victories and multiple indictments that he claims are political persecutions.

“South Carolina – thank you very much. Go home, rest. We have a lot of work to do,” Trump insisted in remarks in which he never mentioned his remaining Republican rival.

Haley’s loss Saturday marks the first time in more than 50 years that a Republican candidate has lost the primary in his home state. The previous one was Richard Nixon, who lost the California primaries to Ronald Reagan, who was also from California.

But Haley said during a “state of the race” address on Tuesday that she was “nowhere near” ending her bid, despite her disappointing performance in the primaries so far and dismal polling showing her with her in national and state elections. trailed Trump by large margins.

The former South Carolina governor said she plans to remain in the 2024 Republican primary until Super Tuesday on March 5, when 16 states and one territory will hold contests and as many as 874 delegates will be up for grabs on that one day.

Trump spoke for just over 20 minutes — and even after he left the stage, the Associated Press reported only 6 percent of votes counted in South Carolina.

Trump acknowledged during his remarks that the crowd at his election night party in South Carolina’s capital was “very opinionated” — even toward some of the former president’s guests of honor.

When Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina was mentioned, the crowd booed, despite Trump telling them he is a good person.

Some South Carolina voters told DailyMail.com on Saturday that Haley has ruined any future career aspirations by entering the 2024 race and insists her career in politics, especially in the Palmetto State, is over.

“She has ruined herself in politics because no one I know will ever vote for her again after she spoke out against Trump and said the mean things she said about him,” said Trump supporter Kendal Fiorini, 58.

Trump earned 51 percent in Iowa against Haley, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and a few other long shots. Then last month in New Hampshire, he earned 54.3 percent in a contest between him and Haley, after the rest of the primary field dropped out — with most throwing their support behind Trump.

The former president then walked away with 99.1 percent of the vote in the Nevada caucus earlier this month, which Haley did not participate in after choosing to run in the state’s primary instead — where she shockingly wise lost due to the voting option ‘none of these candidates’. .’

Trump held a rally in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on Friday, where about 6,000 supporters came to hear his final call before the primaries.

He also spoke at the Black Conservative Federation Gala in Columbia later on Friday before heading to National Harbor, Maryland on Saturday morning for CPAC remarks just outside Washington, DC.