Who is Javier Milei, the Argentinian president who gifted a chainsaw to Elon Musk?

Days after claiming to spend the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk, has taken a chainsaw to the bureaucracy—this time quite literally. The Tesla CEO, who has been running the show for US President Donald Trump, was seen wielding a chainsaw at a conservative gathering in Washington, DC, on Thursday.

CREDIT: AP

The chainsaw was gifted to Musk by Argentinian President Javier Milei, who also attended the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

The chainsaw was engraved with Milei’s slogan, “Viva la libertad, carajo,” which is Spanish for “Long live liberty, damn it.”

Milei, an economist-turned-politician, was the one who made taking a chainsaw to the economy famous during his presidential election campaign. Throughout his election campaign, Milei was seen carrying a chainsaw to reiterate his promise of cutting regulations, bureaucracy, and red tape in Argentina.

CREDIT: AP

Despite being a political outsider who described himself as an anarcho-capitalist, Milei, who promised economic hardships in the short term due to his reforms, won the election.

His unconventional style resonated with Musk, and the two met in September 2024, two months before the US Presidential elections.

Milei's promise to cut red tape and bureaucracy is also in line with Musk's new mandate as the head of DOGE, which is on a cost-cutting spree to reduce US federal spending.

CREDIT: AP

Musk, who seemed to like the gift from Milei, has posted several photos of himself with the chainsaw and even changed his DP on X to an image showing him wielding the heavy-duty cutting machine.

"This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy," said Musk.

While Milei has managed to revive the Argentinian economy, he is currently embroiled in a scandal that could even see him impeached. This was after he endorsed a cryptocoin called Libra on social media, which later turned out to be a scam, and investors lost millions.

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