On September 24, 2025, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made headlines with a candid admission on Fox Business: the Trump administration was actively seeking to influence the outcome of Argentina’s upcoming legislative elections. This unusually forthright statement—rare in the realm of international diplomacy—has cast a spotlight on the deepening relationship between the United States and Argentina, as well as the mounting challenges faced by Argentine President Javier Milei ahead of a critical political test.
Argentina’s legislative elections, set for October 2025, will determine half of the seats in the country’s Chamber of Deputies and a third of its Senate. The stakes are high for President Milei, whose libertarian party, La Libertad Avanza, currently holds just 7 of 72 Senate seats and 39 of 257 in the lower chamber. While Milei himself is not up for reelection until 2027, the results could dramatically reshape his ability to govern and push his controversial economic agenda.
Bessent, speaking just a day after meeting with both Milei and former President Donald Trump during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, didn’t mince words about the U.S. strategy. “The plan is, as long as President Milei continues with his strong economic policies, to help him—to bridge him to the election,” Bessent said, as reported by Fox Business. He went on to praise Milei’s “impressive fiscal consolidation and a broad liberalization of prices and restrictive regulations,” echoing the Trump administration’s enthusiasm for the Argentine leader’s radical approach to economic reform.
But the context behind these pledges of support is anything but rosy. According to The American Prospect, Argentina is currently mired in yet another debt and currency crisis, the latest in a long string of economic calamities. Milei, who was elected in October 2023, has implemented sweeping austerity measures designed to balance the budget, restore international confidence in the peso, reduce inflation, and attract foreign capital. Initially, these moves seemed to pay off: inflation dipped, and the International Monetary Fund responded with a $20 billion loan package on top of the $44 billion in previous IMF credits. Yet the relief was short-lived.
By 2025, Milei’s policies had begun to unravel. Inflation crept back up, foreign investment failed to materialize, and the peso’s strength—ironically—hurt Argentina’s export competitiveness. The government was forced to dip into its already scarce dollar reserves to defend the peso, leaving the country nearly out of hard currency. Meanwhile, the austerity program crushed consumer demand, leading to plummeting approval ratings for Milei and a poor showing for his party in local elections in Buenos Aires Province. Congressional opposition mounted, and a corruption scandal involving Milei’s sister, who managed his campaign, only deepened the president’s woes.
Despite these setbacks, the Trump administration has doubled down on its support for Milei. Bessent revealed that U.S. officials are negotiating a $20 billion swap line with Argentina’s Central Bank—an institution Milei once threatened to abolish—and are even considering purchasing Argentine government debt, both on the secondary and primary markets. According to Bessent, “U.S. officials were in talks to establish a $20 billion swap line with Argentina’s Central Bank… and even purchase secondary or primary government debt.” The Treasury Secretary also hinted at the possibility of handouts from U.S. companies, but made clear that such investments were contingent on a “positive election outcome.”
“I have also been in touch with numerous U.S. companies who intend to make substantial foreign direct investments in Argentina [in] multiple sectors in the event of a positive election outcome,” Bessent wrote in a post on X. This, as The American Prospect observed, amounts to a finance-based version of meddling in foreign elections—a move that ties Argentina’s economic lifeline to the political fortunes of its embattled president.
The market’s response to Bessent’s announcement was swift, if not overwhelming. The peso rose 4 percent against the dollar, and Argentine government bonds climbed 7 percent. Yet, as Robert Kuttner noted in The American Prospect, these gains are likely to prove temporary. “Austerity will continue,” he wrote, emphasizing that the underlying structural problems in Argentina’s economy remain unaddressed. The U.S. bailout, in Kuttner’s view, is a short-term fix that does little to resolve the long-term issues exacerbated by Milei’s policies.
The political calculus behind the Trump administration’s support is also stark. Bessent made no secret of the fact that U.S. backing is tied to Milei’s continued adherence to “strong economic policies” and, crucially, his success in the upcoming midterms. “The Trump Administration is resolute in our support for allies of the United States, and President Trump has given President Milei a rare endorsement of a foreign official, showing his confidence in his government’s economic plans and the geopolitical strategic importance of the relationship between the United States and Argentina,” Bessent wrote. He pledged that “immediately after the election, we will start working with the Argentine government on its principal repayments.”
This approach has not been without controversy. Critics argue that the U.S. is propping up a far-right leader whose policies have deepened Argentina’s economic malaise, all while ignoring the country’s long-term needs. The contrast with neighboring Brazil is particularly striking. While Argentina struggles, Brazil, under the progressive leadership of President Lula, has enjoyed GDP growth above 3 percent for three consecutive years, inflation below 5 percent, and a healthy trade surplus. Yet, as Kuttner pointed out, Brazil has been hit with a 50 percent punitive tariff by the Trump administration, ostensibly for political reasons related to former President Jair Bolsonaro, while Argentina stands to receive tens of billions in U.S. support.
At home, Milei faces mounting resistance—not just from opposition parties, but from ordinary Argentines reeling from cuts to health care and education, and from the fallout of the ongoing corruption scandal. “People are concerned. People are skittish. It’s very hard to believe that it is different this time, but I believe with President Milei it is,” Bessent insisted on Fox Business, attempting to reassure both markets and skeptics.
Still, the outcome of October’s legislative elections will likely determine the trajectory of U.S.-Argentine relations for years to come. Should Milei’s party gain ground, the Trump administration’s gamble may pay off, at least in the short term. But if, as many expect, his party falters, Argentina may find itself in need of even greater support—with no guarantee that Washington’s largesse will continue indefinitely.
As the world watches, the fate of Argentina’s economy—and the credibility of its U.S. backers—hangs in the balance, a high-stakes drama playing out on the global stage with consequences far beyond Buenos Aires.