February 11, 2017
Mainstream media is obsessed with reporting on U.S. President Donald Trump’s supposed “bromance” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They’ve even gone as far as republishing the photoshopped image of the two world leaders riding the same horse shirtless.
But there’s another world leader that they’ve left off the hook who may have more in common with Trump: Argentine President Mauricio Macri.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence spoke by telephone with Macri on Friday, reaffirming their mutual support for their administrations. Pence told Macri that Trump “looks forward to speaking with him soon,” according to the White House.
“When Macri and Trump talked on the phone in November one of the first things that came up was to hold a meeting and the U.S. president was very positive about the initiative,” Argentine foreign minister Susana Malcorra said shortly after Friday’s call, Merco Press reports.
“We’re exploring how and when this can take place.”
It seems like Trump and Macri are both excited to finally meet each other in person — not surprising to those who’ve been closely monitoring their administrations. Both leaders are staunchly pro-business, anti-immigrant, and anti-environment.
They both own billion-dollar family businesses with shady pasts in their respective countries: The Trump Organization and Sociedad Macri. As presidents, they’re both cutting taxes on large corporations that have previously worked alongside their own enterprises. Their administrations also support cutting spending on social assistance programs to create “competitive” environments.
Trump and Macri are both implementing some of the harshest crackdowns on undocumented immigrants in the Western Hemisphere. The former temporarily suspended entry of immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries. The latter signed a decree speeding up the deportation of foreigners who have committed crimes while prohibiting the entry of foreign citizens with prior criminal convictions.
Lastly, they both don’t care about environmental issues. The U.S. President is planning to cut $800 million in grants and programs related to climate change while loosening restrictions on oil drilling and power plants, Axios News reports. The Argentine President issued an executive order eliminating taxes on mining activities in the country while increasing the amount of transnational mining projects in the South American country.
All of these actions have taken place within the last month.
Given Trump and Macri’s astoundingly similar forms of governing, it’s almost certain they will develop a strong relationship in their remaining years ruling.
Source: teleSur