Argentina's libertarian leader has lavished praise on Donald Trump ahead of his first White House meeting with the US president at the White House, a tactic that has helped transform President Javier Milei's cash-strapped country into one of the Trump administration's closest allies.
"Your commitment to life, freedom and peace has restored hope to the world," Milei wrote on social media on Monday, congratulating the US president on securing a ceasefire deal in Gaza, where a truce is largely holding amid Israeli breaches after a devastating 733-day Israeli genocide.
"It is an honour to consider you not only an ally in the defense of those values, but also a dear friend and an example of leadership that inspires all those who believe in freedom," he said.
The Trump-Milei bromance has already paid off for Argentina — most recently, to the tune of a $20 billion bailout.
Experts say Milei comes to the White House with two clear objectives. One is to negotiate US tariff exemptions or reductions for Argentine products.
The other is to see how the United States will implement a $20 billion currency swap line to prop up Argentina's peso and replenish its depleted foreign currency reserves ahead of crucial midterm elections later this month.
The Trump administration made a highly unusual decision to intervene in Argentina's currency market after Milei's party suffered a landslide loss in a local election last month.
Along with setbacks in the opposition-dominated Congress, the party's crushing defeat created a crisis of confidence as voters in Buenos Aires Province registered their frustration with rising unemployment, contracting economic activity and brewing corruption scandals.
Alarmed that this could herald the end of popular support for Milei's free-market programme, investors dumped Argentine bonds and sold off the peso.
Argentina's Treasury began hemorrhaging precious dollar reserves at a feverish pace, trying shore up the currency and keep its exchange rate within the trading band set as part of the country’s recent $20 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund.
But as the peso continued to slide, Milei grew desperate.
He met with Trump on September 23 while in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly.
A flurry of back-slapping, hand-shaking and mutual flattery between the two quickly gave way to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly promising Argentina a lifeline of $20 billion.
Markets cheered, and investors breathed a sigh of relief.
Timing is everything
In the days that followed, Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo spent hours in meetings in Washington trying to seal the deal.
Reassurance came last Thursday, when Bessent announced that the US would allow Argentina to exchange up to $20 billion worth of pesos for an equal sum in dollars. Saying that the success of Milei's programme was "of systemic importance," Bessent added that the US Treasury directly purchased an unspecified amount of pesos.
For the Trump administration, the timing was awkward as it struggles to manage the optics of bailing out a nine-time serial defaulter in the middle of a US government shutdown that has led to mass layoffs.
But for Argentina, it came in the nick of time.
Aware of how a weak currency could threaten his flagship achievement of taming inflation and hurt his popularity, Milei hopes to stave off what many economists see as an inescapable currency devaluation until after the the October 26 midterm elections.
A devaluation of the peso would likely fuel a resurgence in inflation.
No strings attached Milei was vague when pressed for details on his talks with Trump, expected later on Tuesday. Officials say he would have a two-hour meeting with the US president, followed by a working lunch with other top officials.
He was also expected to participate in a ceremony at the White House honoring Charlie Kirk, the prominent right-wing political activist who was fatally shot last month.
Milei often crossed paths with Kirk on the speaking circuit of the ascendant global right.
"We don't have a single-issue agenda, but rather a multi-issue agenda," Milei told El Observador radio in Buenos Aires on Monday. "Things that are already finalised will be announced, and things that still need to be finalised will remain pending."
He also gushed about US support saving Argentina from "the local franchise of 21st-century socialism" and waxed poetic about Argentina's economic potential.
"There will be an avalanche of dollars," Milei said. "We'll have dollars pouring out of our ears."
It's not clear what strings, if any, the Trump administration has attached to the currency swap deal, which Democratic lawmakers and other critics have slammed as an example of Trump rewarding loyalists at the expense of American taxpayers.
