Milei: Ally of the United States or of Trump?

“The relationship between the United States and Argentina is at its strongest point in history,” an authorised voice of the US State Department said recently. That’s not the Casa Rosada speaking and it confirms what we already knew since last year, when Donald Trump returned to the White House with Javier Milei serving as President here.

The construction of the link between the two world leaders could be said to have begun beforehand when Milei, already installed in Balcarce 50, made a series of undisguised efforts to ingratiate himself with a Trump campaigning against the Democratic administration.

The La Libertad Avanza leader’s bet paid off and Argentina’s automatic alignment with Washington has brought great benefits to Milei – for now.

The United States guaranteed key financial stability, along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as the pre-midterm clouds gathered last October.

Blindly following US foreign policy has saved Milei’s government from having to debate or think out any of its own. This could be right or wrong; it is what it is. Backing everything Trump decides or says regarding the world is the line.

The US State Department spokesperson indeed emphatically highlighted “the alignment around shared priorities of economic growth, democratic government and regional stability,” underlining, in case of any doubt, that “the United States praises the continuous leadership of Milei and the efforts of his government to boost Argentina’s role as a constructive partner via market-oriented reforms, greater global participation and cooperation in security matters.”

We should return to an earlier question: Will it work out well? And we could add: For whom? And for what?

Over and above the key financial aspect of US aid, as far as the productive sector goes and for international trade, the economies of the two countries compete more than complement each other. It remains to be seen how those characteristics pan out in the delayed trade agreement pre-announced in late 2025. That’s without even mentioning Trump’s fight to the finish with China,one of Argentina’s main trade and investment partners. One point here about Milei – without any yelling, song and dance or uncomfortable visits, he is consolidating his ties with Beijing.

The most delicate question perhaps looks remote. Argentina has accompanied Trump’s exits from international organisations, snubbed an invaded Ukraine despite welcoming its president at Milei’s inauguration, backed Washington's military intervention in Venezuela and now looks expectantly at Trump’s latest whim, annexing Greenland, to the indignation of Europe (our brand-new trade partners via the agreement with Mercosur).

The U-turn is completed by Milei’s decision to agree to joining Trump’s Board of Peace, the multinational organisation arbitrarily assembled by the Republican leader to reconstruct the Gaza Strip and guarantee its security (and more).

The remote can sometimes become up close in unexpected places. The last time Argentina followed the controversial and spasmodic US approaches to the Middle East, it was hit by two sanguinary terrorist attacks. Never clarified or tried but with Iran always under suspicion. In more recent days Argentina’s decision to brand an Iranian military force as a terrorist organisation motivated a threat of reprisals from its régime. 

Trump’s dangerous whims could drag Milei and our country into unforeseen – and unnecessary – conflicts.