Last year, then-presidential candidate Javier Milei declared Argentina would not “make deals with communists” in China or Brazil, calling their leaders “murderers” and “thieves” in a bid to channel the populist energies of Donald Trump into a winning political message.

Xi struck a friendly tone during their first meeting in Rio, thanking Milei for sending a "warm congratulatory letter" on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. He also noted Milei's sweeping economic reform plans, according to a readout published by CCTV.

As world leaders at the G20 summit in Brazil are bracing for the return of U.S. President Donald Trump to the center of global affairs, one head of state in the room has given them an early taste of a familiar,