Javier Milei will travel to the United States later today as he begins a high-profile international trip that includes meetings with US President Donald Trump and an appearance at the United Nations General Assembly.
Milei, 54, will meet with Trump on Tuesday before attending an event hosted by the Republican leader. Argentina’s leader will also sit down with Kristalina Georgieva, the head of the International Monetary Fund.
The meeting comes after Milei revealed that Argentina is in “very advanced” negotiations to secure a loan from the US Treasury. The funds would be used to help shore up reserves and meet debt maturities. It comes amid market turbulence in Argentina, a result of a “political panic” that has unleashed turmoil in the markets, revealed the President.
Milei will depart for New York on Sunday. He is scheduled to arrive on Monday morning at 9.30am and has a morning meeting scheduled with economist Alberto Ades. Later that day, he will sit down with IMF chief Georgieva, accompanied by Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein, Economy Minister Luis Caputo, Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei and Presidential Spokesperson Manuel Adorni. He will also meet economist Xavier Sala i Martín that evening.
On Tuesday, the President will attend Trump’s address to the 80th UN General Assembly, before sitting down for a bilateral meeting with the US President. That night, he will take part in a special reception for allies hosted by the Republican leader.
In an official communiqué from Milei’s Office, the meeting was described as taking place “within the framework of the solid bilateral relationship between the countries, and the shared commitment to continue deepening strategic ties between the government and the Trump administration.”
The trip comes amid negotiations for a loan from the United States Treasury that Milei says would help bolster reserves to meet debt maturities. On Friday, he said the talks were “very advanced.”
On the same day, at Banco Nación – Argentina’s largest state-owned bank – the dollar closed at 1,515 pesos, breaching the upper limit of the floating exchange rate band set by the government and the IMF.
The surge forced the Central Bank to intervene in the markets, selling US$678 million to contain the spike. Since Wednesday, it has sold a total of US$1.11 billion.
The peso has depreciated by 12.67 percent so far in September.
“There is political panic that is spiralling in the market and generating massive incoordination in terms of country risk,” Milei told the Córdoba Stock Exchange on Friday in a speech.
Milei defended his economic programme as he faces his toughest political moment yet, after losing the Buenos Aires Province midterm elections earlier this month to the opposition Peronists. In just over a month, he will face key national midterms that will define the make-up of Congress.
His schedule in New York also includes an address to the UN General Debate on Wednesday at noon, followed by the Atlantic Council’s 2025 Global Citizen Award ceremony, where he will receive the prize from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a previous visitor to Buenos Aires.
On Thursday, Milei will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and attend an awards ceremony. He will also hold talks with Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, and Claudio Epelman, director of the Latin American Jewish Congress.
He is due back in Buenos Aires on Friday morning.
– TIMES/AFP/NA
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