Trump says he’ll discuss trade deal with Milei, defends lifeline

US President Donald Trump said he would discuss a potential free-trade agreement with Argentina's President Javier Milei and defended a US$20-billion lifeline to Buenos Aires ahead of elections in the country.

“We want to help Argentina,” Trump said Tuesday as he met Milei at the White House, touting trade as a way to help bolster the Latin American country. “One of the ways we can do, they have great product, and we used to do a lot of trade.”

The White House meeting came just days after the US announced the US$20-billion currency swap — meant to help shore up Argentina’s peso and calm financial markets in the South American nation — and less than two weeks before a pivotal October 26 midterm election set to decide the future of Milei’s Presidency and his reform efforts.

Milei, a libertarian, has brandished a chainsaw to champion cuts in government spending and a series of austerity measures that proved unpopular with voters, helping drive higher disapproval ratings ahead of Argentina’s midterms.

Trump was asked about China’s purchase soybeans from Argentina and plans to charge port fees for US ships, but brushed the questions aside.

“I guess it’s natural, it’s China, and it’s natural,” Trump said. “It’s not going to mean anything in the end.”

The US president did suggest he would be unhappy if Argentina was otherwise deepening its ties with Beijing.

“Can do some trade, but you certainly shouldn’t be doing beyond that,” Trump said. “Certainly shouldn’t be doing anything having to do with the military with China.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent interjected to say that the US assistance was not predicated on ending its China swap. “Any reporting to that effect is incorrect,” he said. “This aid is predicated on robust policies, and going back to the failed Peronist policies, would cause a US rethink,” he added.

Trump was also asked if Milei should dollarise Argentina’s economy, as he pledged to do during his 2023 campaign. Trump deferred the question to Bessent, who said the US was “very happy with the current currency arrangement.”

The US Treasury has directly purchased pesos in a move following unsuccessful efforts by Argentine authorities to stem the currency’s slide. The US is willing to continue purchasing pesos and bonds, Argentina’s Economy Minister Luis Caputo said Sunday in an interview with Buenos Aires-based TV channel LN+.

Trump broadly offered support for Milei’s economic approach, saying his counterpart was “really on the verge of tremendous economic success.”

“It’s a very big election being watched by the world because he’s done an incredible job. But with that comes some pain, and they have some pain, and now they’re coming out of it. I think the victory is very important,” Trump said, adding the he was going to “fully endorse” Milei.

The US lifeline, announced by Bessent last week, represents an extraordinary US intervention into foreign financial markets – one that critics have said conflicts with Trump’s “America First” agenda and imperils taxpayer dollars. Some Democrats have called the arrangement politically motivated, aimed at shoring up a leader seen as an ideological ally of Trump’s, and have questioned the influence of potential beneficiaries, including hedge funds and asset managers suspected of lobbying for the deal.

US farming interests also have taken affront, since the currency swap follows Argentina’s sale of millions of tons of soybeans to China – which has paused purchases of the US commodity amid trade tensions.

Nevertheless, supporters have cast the currency swap as a bid to buy time for Argentina’s stabilisation and Milei’s reforms. Bessent also has defended the deal, describing a strong, stable Argentina as in the US strategic interest.