Key topics:
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Milei faces falling approval amid corruption scandals
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Crypto $LIBRA case and aide wealth probe under investigation
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Economy contracts sharply, inflation relief but new slowdown emerges
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From The Economist, published under licence. The original article can be found on www.economist.com
© 2025 The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved.
The Economist
“Do you know who has been hit hardest in this economy in real terms? Me,” declared Javier Milei of Argentina at a recent swanky event. “I’m the only one whose salary hasn’t changed since I took office,” he said, while arguing that his cuts have fallen on the political class. “I’m the lowest-paid president in the Americas.” That message is unlikely to win over struggling Argentines. Indeed, Mr Milei’s net approval rating has plunged recently. It is now almost minus 30, the worst since he took office in December 2023 (see chart).
Mr Milei’s party won legislative midterms last October. That endorsement of his radical cost-cutting and liberalising agenda allowed him to get a slew of reforms through Congress. Yet voters now have two big gripes: corruption scandals and a struggling economy. In his first two years in office his policies cut monthly inflation to 1.5%, about a tenth of its previous level, but it has since been creeping up. The economy shrank sharply in February. Mr Milei does not face re-election until October 2027 and an energy boom could help him, but he needs to get a grip.
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Start with the scandals. In February last year Mr Milei posted on social media in support of $LIBRA, a cryptocurrency. It soared in value before quickly plunging, wiping out some $250m for many holders, except a few big ones who sold at the peak. Mr Milei quickly said that he “obviously” had no connection with the $LIBRA venture. Yet phone records recently obtained by federal investigators show that on the night of Mr Milei’s post there were seven calls between Mr Milei and one of the businessmen behind it.
Investigators found draft documents on the phone of one of the crypto businessmen outlining potential financial agreements between them and Mr Milei. They specify three payments totalling $5m, including one for publicly naming one of the entrepreneurs as an adviser. It is unclear who the payments were intended for; there is no evidence that Mr Milei agreed to or received them. Prosecutors have named him as a person of interest in the case, but he has not been charged. All those involved deny any wrongdoing.
Argentines appear even more annoyed by a scandal involving Mr Milei’s chief of staff, Manuel Adorni. Federal prosecutors are investigating him for alleged illicit enrichment, after reports of lavish travel, including a trip to Aruba paid in cash, despite a modest public salary. Prosecutors are also looking into a family trip on a private jet to a Uruguayan resort and the purchase of an apartment at a surprisingly low price with a curious interest-free loan. Mr Adorni denies wrongdoing.
Mr Milei has backed him and lashed out at journalists. Over four days in April, for example, he published 86 posts on X attacking the press, and reposted 874 more. He often repeats a catchphrase of American right-wingers: “We don’t hate journalists enough.” In mid-April his government blocked reporters from entering the Casa Rosada, the seat of the presidency, after a few of them allegedly filmed without authorisation. (The journalists say they had notified the authorities.) He called the media “filthy scum” and reposted an AI-generated image of one of the journalists in prison garb. On May 4th journalists were permitted to return, but under tight new rules.
Argentines might have ignored corruption allegations if the economy were humming. It is not. Official data suggest gdp in February fell by 2.6% from January, the largest drop since 2023. Manufacturing and retail activity plunged. This is leading to shrinking tax revenues, which threaten Mr Milei’s impressive fiscal surplus. Squeezed, the government is delaying payments to some suppliers to public bodies.
Investigators found draft documents on the phone of one of the crypto businessmen outlining potential financial agreements between them and Mr Milei. They specify three payments totalling $5m, including one for publicly naming one of the entrepreneurs as an adviser. It is unclear who the payments were intended for; there is no evidence that Mr Milei agreed to or received them. Prosecutors have named him as a person of interest in the case, but he has not been charged. All those involved deny any wrongdoing.
Argentines appear even more annoyed by a scandal involving Mr Milei’s chief of staff, Manuel Adorni. Federal prosecutors are investigating him for alleged illicit enrichment, after reports of lavish travel, including a trip to Aruba paid in cash, despite a modest public salary. Prosecutors are also looking into a family trip on a private jet to a Uruguayan resort and the purchase of an apartment at a surprisingly low price with a curious interest-free loan. Mr Adorni denies wrongdoing.
Mr Milei has backed him and lashed out at journalists. Over four days in April, for example, he published 86 posts on X attacking the press, and reposted 874 more. He often repeats a catchphrase of American right-wingers: “We don’t hate journalists enough.” In mid-April his government blocked reporters from entering the Casa Rosada, the seat of the presidency, after a few of them allegedly filmed without authorisation. (The journalists say they had notified the authorities.) He called the media “filthy scum” and reposted an AI-generated image of one of the journalists in prison garb. On May 4th journalists were permitted to return, but under tight new rules.
Read more:
Argentines might have ignored corruption allegations if the economy were humming. It is not. Official data suggest gdp in February fell by 2.6% from January, the largest drop since 2023. Manufacturing and retail activity plunged. This is leading to shrinking tax revenues, which threaten Mr Milei’s impressive fiscal surplus. Squeezed, the government is delaying payments to some suppliers to public bodies.
