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President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to pull assistance for Argentina — led by a political kindred spirit whose philosophy is similar to that of the Republican administration — if the nation’s internal politics don’t align with his interests in upcoming elections.
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’ democratic elections.
Even so, Trump insisted that the $20 billion assistance to Argentina, which administration officials strenuously deny is a bailout, was about helping “our neighbors” rather than any ties to the upcoming midterms.
“It’s just helping a great philosophy take over a great country,” 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.”
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 and ask for 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.
