WASHINGTON (AP) — The President donald trump Argentina on Tuesday threatened to withdraw aid to an country led by political allies aligned with the ideas of the Republican government if domestic politics do not go the U.S.’ way in upcoming elections.
The comments were made during a meeting with Argentina’s President Javier Milei, who is holding midterm legislative elections later this month. The president of the United States generally does not influence candidates for democratic elections in other countries.
Trump referred to the “far-left” opposition, which encompasses “the philosophy that got Argentina into this issue in the first place,” and warned that the United States would not “waste time” with a bigoted stance against Buenos Aires unless Mr. Miller won. In addition to the midterm elections, which will be a referendum on his policies, Miller himself is up for re-election in 2027.
“I will not allow someone to become president and waste this country’s tax dollars. I will not allow that to happen,” President Trump said while preparing lunch with Milley in the Cabinet room. “If he loses, we won’t be as generous to Argentina.”
Still, President Trump insisted that the $20 billion in aid to Argentina, which administration officials have strongly denied is a relief package, was meant to help “neighboring countries” and not tied to the upcoming midterm elections.
“It’s just helping great philosophies take over great countries,” the US president said. “Argentina is one of the most beautiful countries I’ve ever seen and we want to see this country succeed. It’s as simple as that.”
US Secretary of the Treasury scott bessent He added that the administration believes Milley’s coalition in the upcoming midterm elections “will perform very well and continue on a reform path.”
President Trump opened his lunch with Milley by saying that the Argentine president, an economist, is “MAGA through and through.” This term traditionally refers to the president’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” but this time it also meant “Make Argentina Great Again.”
The meeting between President Trump and Mr. Milay has already caused a stir in Argentina, with left-wing Peronist opposition leader and former two-term president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner writing on social media: “Mr. Trump and Mr. Milay: ‘Our agreement will be affected no matter who wins the election’. Argentines…you know what to do!”
The former president has been serving a six-year sentence under house arrest since June on corruption charges, but remains Peronism’s most influential leader. Peronism is an ideologically flexible, populist movement focused on workers’ rights that emerged in the 1940s and dominated politics for decades.
A bromance blossoms
Prior to and during their meeting at the White House, Milley lavished Trump with praise, deploying tactics that helped turn Milley’s cash-strapped country into one for the world. Trump administration’s closest ally.
“I am very honored, especially at this time when we are so grateful for President Trump’s great leadership,” Milley said in Spanish.
“We can follow a peaceful path and make Argentina a strong example of freedom and prosperity,” Milay said.
and that bromance It is already paying off for Argentina – most recently. $20 billion bailout.
Experts say Milley came to the White House with two clear objectives. One is to negotiate exemptions or reductions in U.S. tariffs on Argentine products.
The other is to see how the US will implement the $20 billion financing. Currency swap line to support Argentine peso It will also replenish depleted foreign exchange reserves ahead of the crucial midterm elections later this month.
Turn to Trump in times of crisis
After Milley’s party suffered, the Trump administration made the highly unusual decision to intervene in Argentina’s currency market. Landslide defeat in last month’s local elections.
In addition to setbacks in the opposition-dominated parliament, the party suffered a crushing defeat. caused a crisis of confidence As voters in the province of Buenos Aires expressed their dissatisfaction; rising unemployment ratereduction in economic activity; causing a corruption scandal.
Investors, alarmed that this could spell the end of public support for Millais’ free-market program, dumped Argentine bonds and sold off the peso.
Argentina’s Treasury Department has begun draining precious dollar reserves at a breakneck pace in an effort to strengthen the currency and keep the exchange rate within trading ranges set as part of the country’s recent policies. $20 billion agreement with International Monetary Fund.
But as the peso continued to fall, Millay became desperate.
On September 23, he met with President Trump while in New York. united nations general assembly. The storm of pats on the back, handshakes, and mutual flattery soon died down between the two. Bessent Pledged a $20 billion lifeline to Argentina.
The market cheered and investors breathed a sigh of relief.
timing is everything
In the days that followed, Argentina’s Economy Minister Luis Caputo spent hours in meetings in Washington trying to get a deal done.
Relief came last Thursday when Bessent announced that the United States would allow Argentina to exchange up to $20 billion worth of pesos for equivalent dollars. Bessent said the success of Milay’s program was “systemically important,” adding that the U.S. Treasury Department directly purchased an unspecified amount of pesos.
The timing was tricky for the Trump administration, as it struggles to manage the optics of bailing out the crisis. 9 consecutive defaulters in the middle of america Government shutdown led to mass layoffs. Democratic lawmakers and other critics have also condemned the move as an example of Trump rewarding his supporters at the expense of American taxpayers.
But for Argentina, it happened in the nick of time.
recognizes how a weak currency could threaten his country The main achievement was to reduce inflation. Milley wants to hold off the currency devaluation that many economists see as inevitable until after the Oct. 26 midterm elections. a devaluation of the peso It will likely encourage a return to inflation.
Lecture touching on artificial intelligence
Another topic expected to come up at the Trump-Milay meeting is the Stargate plan to expand a network of large-scale artificial intelligence centers into Latin America, according to people familiar with the plan who requested anonymity to discuss private discussions.
Argentina could be home to Latin America’s first Stargate. Stargate is a joint initiative between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank to build a network of large-scale data centers that power OpenAI’s artificial intelligence technology. It’s an initiative that Trump himself supports.
In Argentina, OpenAI said it would work with energy and infrastructure developer Sur Energy to build a project that would “harness clean energy,” but did not say by how much. Sur also said the company will work with cloud infrastructure developers, but did not specify which cloud providers.
Milley also attended the commemorative ceremony at the White House. Charlie Kirk, prominent right-wing political activist He was shot and killed last month. Millais often passed Kirk at lectures on the dominant global right.
There’s no word on how Argentina, the IMF’s biggest debtor, will ultimately repay the $20 billion to the United States. In addition to the IMF’s own loans Same amount for April. and it came on top Previous IMF loan of $40 billion.
Despite all the support, the Millais government has already fallen short of the IMF’s initial goal of rebuilding foreign exchange reserves.
“The United States should be concerned that Argentina received $14 billion upfront from the IMF and now has to return $20 billion so quickly,” said Brad Setzer, a former Treasury official now at the Council on Foreign Relations. He added: “I’m worried that this is just a short-term bridge and won’t make Argentina better equipped to deal with the problem.”
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Debre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Washington and Matt O’Brien in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.
