Argentine President Javier Milei was distinguished by the British newspaper The Telegraph as the second most influential world leader of 2025 according to the vote of its readers, only behind the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and surpassing the American President Donald Trump, who came in third place. The selection combined evaluations by correspondents, a panel of experts and the popular vote – with more than 10,000 participants –, highlighting Milei’s global impact in its first full year of mandate.
The ranking, published at the beginning of 2026, evaluated twenty heads of government, prioritizing criteria such as positive economic transformation, deep structural reforms and leadership in global challenges. In the list drawn up by the editorial team, Milei came in third place, behind Maia Sandu (president of Moldova) and Giorgia Meloni, but climbed to second in the readers’ vote, above figures such as Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky (fourth) and Benjamin Netanyahu (fifth).
The Telegraph particularly highlighted Argentina’s economic advances under Milei: the control of inflation – which went from hyperinflationary levels to a sharp deceleration – the obtaining of fiscal surpluses, the significant reduction of poverty (from around 50% to figures close to 30-36% according to reports) and the return of private investment and credit. Although the editorial panel expressed some reservations about the long-term sustainability of the structural reforms, readers were more emphatic in their support.
Milei celebrated the recognition on her social networks by sharing a screenshot of the article with her characteristic phrase “neighborhood phenomenon,” an ironic expression she uses to highlight favorable international mentions. For his part, Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno emphasized in
The Government interprets this distinction as a symbolic endorsement of libertarian management in a context of profound economic reforms, macroeconomic stabilization and international repositioning of Argentina. The recognition adds to other positive mentions in British media such as MoneyWeek and The Economist, which also placed Milei among the most relevant leaders of 2025, consolidating its global projection at the start of 2026 after an unexpected success in the mid-term legislative elections.
