WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0on Tuesday threatened to pull assistance for Argentina \u2014 led by a political kindred spirit whose philosophy is similar to that of the Republican administration \u2014 if the nation\u2019s internal politics don\u2019t align with his interests in upcoming elections.<\/p>\n
The comments came during a meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei, whose country is set to hold midterm elections for its legislative body later this month. U.S. presidents typically do not weigh in on the candidates in other countries\u2019 democratic elections.<\/p>\n
Referring to an opponent who was \u201cextremely far-left\u201d and encompassed a \u201cphilosophy that got Argentina into this problem in the first place,” Trump warned that the United States wouldn’t \u201cwaste our time\u201d with largesse toward Buenos Aires if Milei does not prevail. In addition to the midterms that will be a referendum on his policies, Milei himself is up for reelection in 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re not going to let somebody get into office and squander the taxpayer money from this country. I’m not gonna let it happen,\u201d Trump said from the Cabinet Room as he prepared to eat lunch with Milei. \u201cIf he loses, we are not going to be generous with Argentina.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even so, Trump insisted that the $20 billion assistance to Argentina, which administration officials strenuously deny is a bailout, was about helping \u201cour neighbors” rather than any ties to the upcoming midterms.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s just helping a great philosophy take over a great country,\u201d the U.S. president said. “Argentina is one of the most beautiful countries that I’ve ever seen, and we want to see it succeed. It’s very simple.”<\/p>\n
U.S. Treasury Secretary\u00a0Scott Bessent\u00a0added that the administration believed Milei\u2019s coalition in the upcoming midterms would \u201cdo quite well and continue his reform agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n
As he opened his lunch with Milei, Trump noted that the Argentine president, who is an economist by trade, is \u201cMAGA all the way.\u201d That traditionally refers to his campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” but this time, it also meant \u201cMake Argentina Great Again.”<\/p>\n
Trump’s meeting with Milei was already making waves back in Argentina, with Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, leader of the left-leaning Peronist opposition and a two-term former president, writing on social media: \u201cTrump to Milei: \u00b4Our agreements are subject to whoever wins election\u00b4. Argentines … you know what to do!\u201d<\/p>\n
The former president is serving a six-year sentence under house arrest since June for corruption, but she remains the most influential leader of Peronism, an ideologically flexible, labor rights-focused populist movement, which emerged in the 1940s and dominated politics for decades.<\/p>\n
Ahead of his White House meeting and during it Milei lavished praise on Trump, deploying a tactic that has helped transform Milei’s cash-strapped country into one of the\u00a0Trump administration\u2019s closest allies.<\/p>\n
Milei, speaking in Spanish, said he is \u201cvery honored, especially in this moment when we are giving thanks for Trump\u2019s great leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can follow a peaceful route and make Argentina a strong example for freedom and prosperity,\u201d Milei said.<\/p>\n
That\u00a0bromance\u00a0has already paid off for Argentina \u2014 most recently, to the tune of a\u00a0$20 billion bailout.<\/p>\n
In a crisis, turning to Trump<\/p>\n
The Trump administration made a highly unusual decision to intervene in Argentina\u2019s currency market after Milei’s party suffered a\u00a0landslide loss in a local election last month.<\/p>\n
Along with setbacks in the opposition-dominated Congress, the party’s crushing defeat\u00a0created a crisis of confidence\u00a0as voters in Buenos Aires Province registered their frustration with\u00a0rising unemployment, contracting economic activity and\u00a0brewing corruption scandals.<\/p>\n
Alarmed that this could herald the end of popular support for Milei’s free-market program, investors dumped Argentine bonds and sold off the peso.<\/p>\n
Argentina\u2019s Treasury began hemorrhaging precious dollar reserves at a feverish pace, trying shore up the currency and keep its exchange rate within the trading band set as part of the country\u2019s recent\u00a0$20 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund.<\/p>\n
But as the peso continued to slide, Milei grew desperate.<\/p>\n
He met with Trump on Sept. 23 while in New York City for the\u00a0United Nations General Assembly. A flurry of back-slapping, hand-shaking and mutual flattery between the two quickly gave way to\u00a0Bessent\u00a0publicly promising Argentina a lifeline of $20 billion.<\/p>\n
Markets cheered, and investors breathed a sigh of relief.<\/p>\n
Timing is everything<\/p>\n
In the days that followed, Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo spent hours in meetings in Washington trying to seal the deal.<\/p>\n
Reassurance came last Thursday, when Bessent announced that the U.S. would allow Argentina to exchange up to $20 billion worth of pesos for an equal sum in dollars. Saying that the success of Milei\u2019s program was \u201cof systemic importance,\u201d Bessent added that the U.S. Treasury directly purchased an unspecified amount of pesos.<\/p>\n
For the Trump administration, the timing was awkward as it struggles to manage the optics of bailing out a\u00a0nine-time serial defaulter\u00a0in the middle of a U.S.\u00a0government shutdown that has led to mass layoffs. Democratic lawmakers and other critics have slammed it as an example of Trump rewarding loyalists at the expense of American taxpayers.<\/p>\n
Later Thursday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts \u2014 who was singled out during the White House meeting by both Bessent and Trump \u2014 tried to advance a bill that would block the $20 billion in U.S. assistance, but the gambit failed in the Republican-controlled Senate.<\/p>\n
Saying Trump was only aiding Argentina to help Milei, Warren said, \u201cThat’s Argentina first, not America first.\u201d<\/p>\n
But for Argentina, the U.S. help came in the nick of time.<\/p>\n
Aware of how a weak currency could threaten his\u00a0flagship achievement of taming inflation\u00a0and hurt his popularity, Milei hopes to stave off what many economists see as an inescapable currency devaluation until after the Oct. 26 midterm elections. A\u00a0devaluation of the peso\u00a0would likely fuel a resurgence in inflation.<\/p>\n
Talks also touch on\u00a0artificial intelligence<\/p>\n
Another topic that had been on the agenda was the Stargate project, which would expand a network of massive artificial intelligence centers to Latin America, according to a person with knowledge of the plans who was granted anonymity to speak about private discussions.<\/p>\n
Argentina could be home to Latin America\u2019s first Stargate, which is a joint initiative from\u00a0OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank that will build a network of big data centers that would power OpenAI\u2019s artificial intelligence technology. It\u2019s an initiative that\u2019s been championed by Trump himself.<\/p>\n
Milei also joined a ceremony at the White House honoring\u00a0Charlie Kirk, the prominent right-wing political activist\u00a0who was fatally shot last month. Milei often crossed paths with Kirk on the speaking circuit of the ascendant global right.<\/p>\n
There has been no word on how Argentina, the IMF’s largest debtor, will end up paying the U.S. back for this $20 billion, which comes\u00a0on top of IMF\u2019s own loan\u00a0for the same amount in April. And that one came on top of\u00a0an earlier IMF loan for $40 billion.<\/p>\n
Despite all the help, Milei’s government already missed the IMF’s early targets for rebuilding currency reserves.<\/p>\n
“The U.S. should be concerned that Argentina has had to return for $20 billion so quickly after getting $14 billion upfront from the IMF,\u201d said Brad Setser, a former Treasury official now at the Council on Foreign Relations.<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
Debre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Stephen Groves in Washington and Matt O’Brien in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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