Elon Musk's diplomacy: Woo right-wing world leaders. Then benefit
Milei had been elected president of South America's second-largest nation in November, Elon Musk posted on the social platform X: «Prosperity is ahead for Argentina.»
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Since then, Musk has continued to use X, which he owns, to boost Milei. The billionaire has shared videos of the Argentine president attacking «social justice» with his 182 million followers.
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Musk has helped turn the pugnacious libertarian into one of the new faces of the modern right. But offline, he has used the relationship to press for benefits to his other businesses, electric carmaker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX.
«Elon Musk called me,» Milei said in a television interview weeks after taking office. «He is extremely interested in the lithium.»
Musk has declared lithium — the silvery-white element that is the main component in Tesla's car batteries — «the new oil.» Tesla has long bought lithium from Argentina, which has the world's second-largest reserves. Now Milei is pushing for major benefits for international lithium miners, which would likely give Tesla a more stable — and potentially cheaper — flow of one of its most critical resources.
Milei is part of a pattern by Musk of fostering relationships with a constellation of right-wing heads of state, with clear beneficiaries: his companies and himself.
Musk, 52, has repeatedly used one piece of his business empire — X, formerly known as Twitter — to vocally
