Washington– President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to withdraw aid to Argentina — led by a political ethos whose philosophy aligns with that of the Republican administration — if the country’s domestic politics do not go the United States’ way in its upcoming elections.
These statements came during a meeting with Argentine President Javier Miley, whose country is scheduled to hold midterm elections for its legislative body later this month. US presidents typically do not comment on candidates in democratic elections in other countries.
Referring to an opponent who was “far-left” and who espoused “the philosophy that got Argentina into this problem in the first place,” Trump warned that the United States would “not waste our time” being generous to Buenos Aires if Melel did not prevail. In addition to the midterm elections, which will serve as a referendum on his policies, Melel himself is up for re-election in 2027.
“We’re not going to let someone get into office and waste the taxpayers’ money of this country. I’m not going to let that happen,” Trump said from the Cabinet Room as he prepared to have lunch with Miley. If he loses, we will not be generous with Argentina.”
However, Trump insisted that the $20 billion aid to Argentina, which administration officials strongly deny was a bailout, was intended to help “our neighbors” and not any ties to the upcoming midterm elections.
The US President said: “It is merely helping a great philosophy control a great country.” “Argentina is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever seen, and we want to see it succeed. It’s very simple.”
US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent added that the administration believes that Miley’s coalition in the upcoming midterm elections “will achieve good results and continue its reform agenda.”
As he opened his lunch with Miley, Trump noted that the Argentine president, an economist by trade, is “MAGA all the way.” This traditionally refers to his campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” but this time, it also means “Make Argentina Great Again.”
Trump’s meeting with Miley was already causing a stir in Argentina, where Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the leader of the left-leaning Peronist opposition and a former two-term president, wrote on social media: “Trump to Miley: Our agreements are subject to who wins the elections. Argentines… you know what you are doing!”
The former president has been serving a six-year prison sentence under house arrest since June on corruption charges, but she remains the most influential leader of Peronism, an ideologically flexible populist movement focused on workers’ rights that emerged in the 1940s and has dominated politics for decades.
Romance blossoms
Before and during his White House meeting, Miley lavished praise on Trump, using a tactic that helped turn Miley’s cash-strapped country into one of the Trump administration’s closest allies.
Speaking in Spanish, Miley said: “I am extremely honored, especially at this moment when we are thankful for Trump’s great leadership.”
“We can follow a peaceful path and make Argentina a powerful example of freedom and prosperity,” Miley said.
This camaraderie has already paid off for Argentina – most recently, a $20 billion bailout.
Experts say Miley comes to the White House with two clear goals. The first is to negotiate US tariff exemptions or discounts on Argentine products.
Another is to see how the United States will implement a $20 billion currency swap line to support the Argentine peso and replenish its depleted foreign currency reserves before crucial midterm elections later this month.
In crises, he turns to Trump
The Trump administration made the highly unusual decision to intervene in Argentina’s currency market after Miley’s party suffered a landslide loss in local elections last month.
Combined with setbacks in the opposition-dominated Congress, the party’s crushing defeat created a crisis of confidence as voters in Buenos Aires province registered frustration with high unemployment, a contraction in economic activity and corruption scandals.
Investors, alarmed that this might herald the end of popular support for Miley’s free market program, dumped Argentine bonds and sold the peso.
The Argentine Treasury has begun bleeding its precious dollar reserves at a feverish pace, in an attempt to support the currency and keep its exchange rate within the trading range set as part of the country’s recent $20 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund.
But as the peso continued to fall, Miley became desperate.
He met with Trump on September 23 while he was in New York City to attend the United Nations General Assembly meetings. A flurry of slaps, handshakes and mutual flattery between the two soon gave way to Picente who publicly promised Argentina a $20 billion lifeline.
The markets rejoiced, and investors breathed a sigh of relief.
Timing is everything
In the days that followed, Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo spent hours in meetings in Washington trying to seal the deal.
Reassurance came last Thursday, when Picent announced that the United States would allow Argentina to exchange $20 billion worth of pesos for an equivalent amount of dollars. Picente said the success of the Miley program was “systemically important” and added that the US Treasury had directly purchased an unspecified amount of pesos.
For the Trump administration, the timing was awkward as it struggled to manage the idea of bailing out a nine-time defaulter in the middle of a US government shutdown that led to mass layoffs. Democratic lawmakers and other critics also criticized an example of Trump rewarding his loyalists at the expense of American taxpayers.
But for Argentina, it has come at the right time.
Aware of how a weak currency could threaten his key achievement of taming inflation and hurt his popularity, Miley hopes to avoid what many economists see as an inevitable devaluation until after the October 26 midterm elections. A depreciation of the peso will likely lead to a return of inflation.
The talks also touch on artificial intelligence
Another topic expected to come up during the Trump-Millie meeting is the Stargate project, which would expand a network of massive artificial intelligence centers to Latin America, according to a person familiar with the plans who was granted anonymity to talk about private discussions.
Argentina could be home to Latin America’s first Stargate, a joint initiative by OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank that will build a network of large data centers that will power OpenAI’s AI technology. It’s an initiative championed by Trump himself.
In Argentina, OpenAI said it would work with energy and infrastructure developer Sur Energy to build the project and that it would be “powered by clean energy,” though it did not say to what extent. It also said that Sur would work with a cloud infrastructure developer but did not name the cloud provider.
Miley also planned to participate in a ceremony at the White House to honor Charlie Kirk, the prominent right-wing political activist who was shot dead last month. Miley often met Kirk on the speaking circuit of the rising global right.
There was no information on how Argentina, the IMF’s largest debtor, would end up repaying the US $20 billion, which comes on top of a special IMF loan of the same amount in April. This came in addition to a previous loan from the International Monetary Fund worth $40 billion.
Despite all the aid, Miley’s government has already failed to meet early targets set by the International Monetary Fund to rebuild currency reserves.
“The United States should be concerned that Argentina had to return $20 billion so quickly after receiving a $14 billion advance from the IMF,” said Brad Setser, a former Treasury Department official who now works at the Council on Foreign Relations. He added: “I am concerned that this may be just a short-term bridge and will not leave Argentina better equipped” to address its problems.
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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.
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