US President Donald Trump warned Tuesday he could sever struggling Argentina's financial lifeline if his libertarian ally Javier Milei loses crucial legislative elections later this month.
"If he loses, we are not going to be generous with Argentina," Trump said as firebrand Milei visited the White House to seek the Republican's political and economic support.
"I'm with this man because his philosophy is correct. And he may win and he may not win – I think he's going to win. And if he wins we are staying with him, and if he doesn't win we are gone."
Trump's administration has already promised US$20 billion to prop up Argentina's struggling economy but his backing has failed to calm the markets – or help Milei's polling ahead of midterms on October 26.
The results of the elections, in which Milei's La Libertad Avanza party is hoping to boost its seat tally, will dictate whether the economist can pass tough cost-cutting reforms or will face a legislative brick wall for the next two years of his term.
Hailing Milei as a "great leader," Trump said he would "fully endorse" his ideological ally in the elections.
"He's MAGA all the way, it's 'Make Argentina Great Again,'" Trump said, referring to his own "Make America Great Again" slogan.
Trump has however faced questions about how a big bailout for Argentina tallies with that same "America First" policy.
Asked by reporters what the benefit to the United States was, Trump replied: "We are helping a great philosophy take over a great country. We want to see it succeed."
'Path of freedom'
After his meeting with Trump at the White House, Milei took to social media to warn Argentines that the support of the world's leading power is directly linked to a rejection of "populism" at the polls.
"Thank you very much, President Trump, for receiving me at the White House," Milei began his post on X.
He reaffirmed his campaign promise to make Argentina a "strategic ally" of the United States, a step he considered essential to "Make Argentina Great Again (MAGA)" – a clear nod to Trump's slogan.
The Argentine leader described Washington's support as "vitally important for the continuity of the long road of reforms we have embarked upon" and then translated the US position into a direct message to the Argentine electorate.
"The situation is very clear: if the country strays from the path of freedom and returns to populism, the United States will stop supporting our country. Otherwise, they will continue to accompany us," the President said.
"I am confident that this time the effort will be worthwhile, that Argentines will not return to the past and that we will once again be a world power where inflation, insecurity and poverty are just a bad memory of the past," he concluded.
– TIMES/AFP/NA
Comments