Milei heads to Trump’s home base with IMF feal near finish line

President Javier Milei will reportedly travel to Florida on Wednesday for talks with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago as Argentina’s negotiations for a new International Monetary Fund programme near a defining moment.

Both leaders are slated to attend an event Thursday in Palm Beach and will “probably meet informally,” Argentina's Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein told a local television network Tuesday. Local newspapers La Nación, Clarín and Ámbito first reported the trip. 

Milei is seeking to secure a US$20-billion loan from the IMF to bolster his plan to revamp the nation’s economy. His negotiators and IMF staff are still haggling over how much of the money Argentina will receive up front and to what extent the government loosens currency restrictions that investors see deterring foreign investment and overvaluing the peso. 

The US has the most voting power at the IMF, making Trump’s support for Argentina’s programme crucial to get it over the finish line and overcome any resistance from other board members to providing a large portion up front. Argentina is seeking more than 40 percent of the programme — or US$8 billion — in the first disbursement, according to Economy Minister Luis Caputo. 

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva called Caputo’s 40-percent request “reasonable” on Monday, while Representative Maria Elvira Salazar, a Florida Republican, went further Tuesday, urging the US Treasury to support an initial disbursement of US$15 billion. Caputo, who thanked Salazar on social media, has repeatedly committed to having an IMF programme done by the end of April after several months of talks. 

Milei and Trump last met in February on the sidelines of the Conservative Political Action Conference’s annual meeting in Washington, and it will be their fourth face-to-face encounter since Trump’s election victory in November. Milei has expressed his desire to pursue a free-trade deal with the United States, though Trump’s plans for reciprocal tariffs might hurt Argentina’s protectionist economy since it imposes stiff levies on US goods.