Public reaction to last night’s nationally televised speech was swift; while the recorded address was being broadcast, loud banging of pots and pans began to sound in neighborhoods of the capital, and provincial media also reported in other cities.

A poll conducted by the popular news portal MinutoUno, which is displayed when accessing the site, showed a majority of 69.74 percent of readers who do not believe that “the worst is over,” as the president had assured them, compared to 30.26 percent who believed him.

That particular phrase—the news channels C5N and Cronica recalled this morning—was used by former President Mauricio Macri in 2018, two years into his term, in a speech before Congress, before his administration fell into crisis and he lost the subsequent elections.

In short, Milei asserted in a brief presentation of the 2026 budget, a project already submitted to Congress for review by the Casa Rosada (Presidential Palace), that he would continue his current fiscal policy, which entails severe cuts in public spending. He asked Argentines for patience in order to have a future of abundance, because “the worst is over.”

And he promised raises for retirees, healthcare, the disabled, and universities, which contradicts his assertion of continuing his hardline approach.

However, there were criticisms and warnings from the political spectrum: National Representative Pablo Juliano responded that the worst was not over. “Millions of Argentines are living worse.

A falsely moderate discourse promises us that ‘the worst is over.’ There were no references to the Bible, nor movie quotes: supposedly, health, education, and retirees will now be the priority. Let’s not be mistaken,” he warned on X.

On that same platform, Senator Maximiliano Abad warns that “Let’s not forget that the bill was also presented last year, and then, when no proposal for change was accepted, it was withdrawn.”

jdt/jha/mh