United States President Donald Trump has pledged to boost Argentina’s economy with a $20bn currency swap — but only if the South American country’s right-wing president prevails in the upcoming elections.
That president, the self-described anarcho-capitalist Javier Milei, was in Washington, DC, on Tuesday for his latest visit to the White House.
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“We think he’s going to win. He should win. And if he does win, we’re going to be very helpful,” Trump said. “And if he doesn’t win, we’re not going to waste our time, because you have somebody whose philosophy has no chance of making Argentina great again.”
Since taking office in December 2023, Milei has made at least a dozen trips to the US, including to attend Trump’s second inauguration. The two leaders share a strong public bond.
But Milei’s latest meeting with Trump comes as his political coalition, La Libertad Avanza (Freedom Advances), faces a series of scandals heading into Argentina’s midterm elections on October 26.
Trump appeared eager to help Milei overcome his drooping poll numbers on Tuesday, as he hosted the Argentinian leader in the White House’s cabinet room.
He explained to reporters that the economic safety net that the US was giving to Argentina was his way of “helping a great philosophy take over a great country”.
“ You’re going to win the election,” Trump told Milei. “We’re going to endorse you. I’m going to endorse you today, fully endorse you. People in Argentina like me. A lot of people like me.”
A conditional bailout
The conditional nature of the Argentinian bailout, however, has raised questions about Trump’s commitment to propping up Argentina’s ailing economy.
Milei’s surprise victory in the 2023 presidential election was widely seen as a backlash against the previous left-wing government of Alberto Fernandez, under whose leadership inflation spiralled to more than 200 percent.
However, while Milei has reduced inflation, the value of the Argentinian peso remains low, and critics have accused the South American president of slashing government programmes for low-income residents, exacerbating poverty.
One reporter on Tuesday asked Trump outright if the US’s support for Argentina depended on a win for La Libertad Avanza in the upcoming elections.
“ Well, I think if they don’t do that, we’re not going to be around very long,” Trump replied.
The US president then mused about a potential loss for Milei’s party. “We would not be generous with Argentina if that happened. If he loses, we are not going to be generous with Argentina.”
Trump also alluded to the potential for further economic turmoil should Milei’s “extremely far-left” rival prevail, though it was unclear which opposition figure he was referring to.
Milei himself is not on the ballot on October 26, but his party, La Libertad Avanza, will be competing for half the seats in Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies and a third in its Senate.
Control of Argentina’s National Congress will determine whether Milei can continue to carry out his wide-reaching austerity measures, among them a push to overhaul the federal government.
Milei himself has illustrated the dramatic nature of his cost-cutting campaign by turning to props: He was known for wielding a chainsaw on stage during his presidential bid and whacking piñatas emblazoned with the name of Argentina’s Central Bank.
Backlash to Milei
But while Milei’s victory in the 2023 presidential race was a strong rebuke to Argentina’s left wing, more recent races have shown public support for his agenda cooling.
On September 7, the province of Buenos Aires, where the capital is located, held elections for its congressional seats, and La Libertad Avanza was trounced by a rival coalition, the left-wing Justicialist Party.
That party took more than 46 percent of the vote, compared with La Libertad Avanza’s 34 percent.
Also that month, Milei suffered a personal scandal when his sister and close associate, Karina Milei, was implicated in a case of alleged bribery.
Karina Milei serves as secretary-general to the presidency, and leaked audio released to Argentinian media appears to show the then-head of the National Disability Agency accusing her of accepting kickbacks in exchange for government contracts.
Both of the Milei siblings have denied the charges, and so far, Javier has stood by his sister. The resulting scandal, however, has cast a stark spotlight on Milei’s actions as president.
Milei had vetoed congressional legislation that would have increased benefits for people with disabilities, but in September, Argentina’s Congress pushed back, forming an overwhelming supermajority to overturn his veto, by a vote of 63 to seven.
It has since repeated the feat, overriding Milei’s vetoes to restore congressional funding for universities and paediatric healthcare.
Still, despite the setbacks, Trump and his officials used Tuesday’s meeting as a platform to promote Milei’s agenda and project confidence in his party’s midterm prospects.
“We think he’s going to do quite well and then continue his reform agenda,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent told reporters.
Projecting confidence
Like Trump, Bessent underscored that the $20bn promised to Argentina was hinged on Milei’s electoral successes.
A return to the left-wing Peronist policies of the previous administration, with its emphasis on social justice, would not be tolerated, he added.
“We’re confident that the president’s party will — and the coalition will — do well in the election, and this aid is predicated on robust policies,” Bessent said. “Going back to the failed Peronist policies would cause a US rethink.”
Trump, meanwhile, acknowledged that Argentinian voters may be experiencing “some pain” as a result of Milei’s economic reform.
But he defended Milei, arguing that “Argentina would be lost if he wasn’t there”.
When asked what his advice would be to the South American leader, Trump used the question to blame the news media for presenting Milei in a bad light.
“My advice is to hold strong to his principles, because he’s right, and he’s proving that he is right. He’s got one problem. He’s got people that are giving him tremendously bad press,” Trump said.
“Everybody knows he’s doing the right thing. But you have a radical-left sick culture that’s a very dangerous group of people, and they’re trying to make him look bad.”
The remarks were a reflection of Trump’s own adversarial relationship with the press. During his appearance with Milei, Trump once again took the opportunity to slam domestic journalism outlets like ABC News, labelling the channel “fake news”.
Trump, who campaigned on an “America First” platform, has faced scrutiny over his outreach to Argentina.
The $20bn currency swap — wherein US dollars will be sent to Argentina in exchange for pesos to help boost their value — comes after Bessent said he would take “exceptional measures” to stabilise the South American country.
That includes withdrawing from the Exchange Stabilization Fund, an emergency fund that falls under the Treasury’s authority.
On Tuesday, Trump even joked that he was willing to send missiles to Argentina to help Milei combat his opposition.
“Do you need any Tomahawks in Argentina?” Trump quipped, to polite chuckles. “You need them for your opposition, I guess.”
