President Trump is meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei at the White House just days after the U.S. gave the Latin American country a bailout in the form of directly purchasing the country’s currency to help its turbulent financial situation.
The Trump administration agreed to the currency swap of $20 billion for pesos last week.
The Argentine presidency said Tuesday’s meeting would “mark a new stage in strengthening the strategic alliance between the two nations, based on shared values and a shared commitment to life, liberty and private property.”
“We love them, we’ll be there for them. They have a great leader,” Mr. Trump said as Mr. Milei arrived.
The Argentine president, a libertarian, saw his party suffer a blow after the results of a Buenos Aires-area election. The disappointing result tanked the country’s peso and cast doubt on his free-market reforms.
Mr. Trump said the U.S. would help Argentina and endorsed Mr. Milei while the two were at the U.N. General Assembly last month. Mr. Milei has been an outspoken supporter of Mr. Trump.
“We’re going to help them, but I don’t think they need a bailout. He’s doing a fantastic job,” Mr. Trump said at that New York meeting.
In a Truth Social post after, Mr. Trump said Mr. Milei is “highly respected … [and] has proven to be a truly fantastic and powerful leader.”
He wrote that Mr. Milei inherited a “total mess” of an economy, “yet he has brought stability back to Argentina’s Economy, and lifted it to a new level of Prominence and Respect.”
Mr. Trump added, “We have had a tremendous relationship with Argentina, which has become a strong ally, thanks to President Milei. I look forward to continuing working closely with him so that both of our Countries can continue on their incredible paths of success. Argentina: Javier Milei is a very good friend, fighter, and WINNER, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election as President — He will never let you down!”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. will offer Argentina a lifeline in the form of currency swaps, direct currency purchases or the use of the Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund, which is used to influence currency exchange rates without affecting the money supply in the country.
He wrote on X last week that the U.S. concluded four days of meetings with Argentina’s economics minister and decided to directly purchase Argentine pesos.
“Additionally, we have finalized a $20 billion currency swap framework with Argentina’s central bank,” Mr. Bessent wrote. “The U.S. Treasury is prepared, immediately, to take whatever exceptional measures are warranted to provide stability to markets.”
Mr. Milei thanked the administration for the assistance.
“Together, as the closest of allies, we will make a hemisphere of economic freedom and prosperity,” he wrote on social media.
Mr. Bessent has insisted that this move is not a bailout, since there were no direct money transfers to Argentina, but U.S. farmers and lawmakers have criticized the decision, saying it doesn’t align with Mr. Trump’s America First ideology.
Farmers, especially of soybeans, view Argentina as a competitor and say the bailout helps Argentine farmers.
“The frustration is overwhelming,” American Soybean Association President Caleb Ragland posted on X last month. “U.S. soybean prices are falling, harvest is underway, and farmers read headlines not about securing a trade agreement with China, but that the U.S. is extending $20 billion in economic support to Argentina while that country drops its soybean export taxes to sell 20 shiploads of Argentine soybeans to China in just two days.”
Republican Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa also questioned the move.
“Why would USA help bail out Argentina while they take American soybean producers’ biggest market???” he wrote on X last month. “We shld use leverage at every turn to help hurting farm economy. Family farmers shld be top of mind in negotiations by representatives of USA.”
Democratic lawmakers introduced the No Argentina Bailout Act after the move was announced. It would stop the Treasury Department from using its Exchange Stabilization Fund to assist Argentina.
“It is inexplicable that President Trump is propping up a foreign government, while he shuts down our own,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, said in a statement. “Trump promised ’America First,’ but he’s putting himself and his billionaire buddies first and sticking Americans with the bill.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.