Trump threatens to pull support for Argentina if its politics don't align with US

Referring to an opponent that was “extremely far-left” who encompassed a “philosophy that got Argentina into this problem in the first place," Trump warned that the United States wouldn't “waste our time” with largesse toward Buenos Aires if Milel does not prevail. In addition to the midterms that will be a referendum on his policies, Milel himself is up for reelection in 2027.

“If he loses, we are not going to be generous with Argentina,” Trump said from the Cabinet Room as he prepared to eat lunch with Milei.

Trump stressed that the $20 billion assistance to Argentina, which administration officials strenuously deny is a bailout, was about helping “our neighbors.” The aid, he added, is “just helping a great philosophy take over a great country.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added that the administration believed Milei’s coalition in the upcoming midterms would “do quite well and continue his reform agenda.”

As he opened his lunch with Milei, Trump noted that the Argentine president, who is an economist by trade, is “MAGA all the way,” That traditionally refers to his campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again," but this time, it also meant “Make Argentina Great Again."

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 Trump administration’s closest allies.

Milei, speaking in Spanish, said he is “very honored, especially in this moment when we are giving thanks for Trump’s great leadership.”

“We can follow a peaceful route and make Argentina a strong example for freedom and prosperity,” Milei said.

And that bromance has already paid off for Argentina — most recently, to the tune of a $20 billion bailout.

Experts say Milei comes to the White House with two clear objectives. One is to negotiate U.S. tariff exemptions or reductions for Argentine products.

The other is to see how the United States will implement a $20 billion currency swap line to prop up Argentina’s peso and replenish its depleted foreign currency reserves ahead of crucial midterm elections later this month.

In a crisis, turning to Trump

The Trump administration made a highly unusual decision to intervene in Argentina’s currency market after Milei's party suffered a landslide loss in a local election last month.

Along with setbacks in the opposition-dominated Congress, the party's crushing defeat created a crisis of confidence as voters in Buenos Aires Province registered their frustration with rising unemployment, contracting economic activity and brewing corruption scandals.

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.

Argentina’s 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’s recent $20 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund.

But as the peso continued to slide, Milei grew desperate.

He met with Trump on Sept. 23 while in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly. A flurry of back-slapping, hand-shaking and mutual flattery between the two quickly gave way to Bessent publicly promising Argentina a lifeline of $20 billion.

Markets cheered, 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 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’s program was “of systemic importance,” Bessent added that the U.S. Treasury directly purchased an unspecified amount of pesos.

For the Trump administration, the timing was awkward as it struggles to manage the optics of bailing out a nine-time serial defaulter in the middle of a U.S. government shutdown that has led to mass layoffs. Democratic lawmakers and other critics have also slammed as an example of Trump rewarding loyalists at the expense of American taxpayers.

But for Argentina, it came in the nick of time.

Aware of how a weak currency could threaten his flagship achievement of taming inflation and 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 devaluation of the peso would likely fuel a resurgence in inflation.

“Milei is going to the U.S. in a moment of desperation now," said Marcelo J. García, political analyst and Director for the Americas at the Horizon Engage political risk consultancy firm.

Talks to also touch on artificial intelligence

Another topic expected to be raised during the Trump-Milei meeting is 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.

Argentina could be home to Latin America’s first Stargate, which is a joint initiative from OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank that will build a network of big data centers that would power OpenAI’s artificial intelligence technology. It’s an initiative that’s been championed by Trump himself.

In Argentina, OpenAI said it will be working with energy and infrastructure developer Sur Energy to build the project and that it will be “powered by clean energy,” though it didn’t say to what extent. It also said Sur would be working with a cloud infrastructure developer but didn’t name which cloud provider.

Milei also planned to participate in a ceremony at the White House honoring Charlie Kirk, the prominent right-wing political activist who was fatally shot last month. Milei often crossed paths with Kirk on the speaking circuit of the ascendant global right.

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 on top of IMF’s own loan for the same amount in April. And that one came on top of an earlier IMF loan for $40 billion.

Despite all the help, Milei's government already missed the IMF's early targets for rebuilding currency reserves.

"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,” said Brad Setser, a former Treasury official now at the Council on Foreign Relations. He added: “I worry that this may prove to just be a short-term bridge and won’t leave Argentina better equipped” to tackle 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.