Donald Trump said US support for Argentina would “end” if Javier Miley suffers election losses

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Donald Trump said a $20 billion US aid package for Argentina is conditional on the political success of Javier Miley, increasing pressure on the liberal leader ahead of the country’s midterm elections this month.

“The elections are coming very soon… I think winning is very important… Our approvals depend to some extent on who wins the elections.” Trump This came during his meeting with the Argentine President at the White House on Tuesday.

Argentina Legislative elections are scheduled to be held on October 26, during which Miley’s “La Libertad Avanza” party will attempt to expand its share of the minority seats in Congress. The next presidential elections in Argentina are scheduled to be held in 2027.

Trump added: “He may not win, but I believe he will win. If he wins, we will stay with him. If he does not win, we will leave.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the election to which Trump was referring.

The US Treasury Department announced last Thursday that it had done so I intervened To support the Argentine peso and concluded a $20 billion swap line to give its cash-strapped central bank access to dollars. The aid succeeded in defusing the market crisis that was threatening to cause damage mercyTrump’s strongest ideological ally in Latin America, before the midterm elections.

The price of Argentina’s U.S. dollar bonds due in 2035 fell about 4 cents on Tuesday to 57 cents on the dollar, or a yield of about 14.2 percent.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said at a meeting on Tuesday that he was “confident” that Miley’s Libertarian Party would do well in the October 26 election.

“This aid is based on strong policies, and a return to failed Peronist policies will push the United States to rethink,” he said, referring to Argentina’s main left-leaning Peronist opposition movement.

Miley’s pro-business government fell into political crisis last month after the shock Landslide loss To the Peronists in local elections in the province of Buenos Aires, where nearly 40 percent of Argentines live.

The defeat led to a run on the peso, forcing the government to consume scarce foreign exchange reserves. Before the US intervention last week, economists warned that the government may have to devalue the peso sharply from its fixed exchange rate range before the midterm elections.

Miley hopes to improve on his 34 percent vote share from Buenos Aires province in the national elections. Pollsters expect he will win with a vote share ranging from the low to upper 30s.

Analysts say support for the government has declined in recent months as economic and wage growth has stalled. Corruption scandals involving Miley’s top advisers have also led to a decline in approval ratings.

The peso fell 0.2 percent after Trump’s comments on Tuesday before the close of trading. However, it has remained up 5 percent since the US Treasury intervened last Thursday, close to its level before the Miley crisis began last month.

In a post on the website

Manuel Adorni, Miley’s spokesman, said Trump’s comments did not refer to the midterm elections but rather to the 2027 presidential election.

“U.S. support, as President Donald Trump himself has said, depends on having a government in Argentina that stands up for the right ideas.” “If Argentina follows the path of socialism or takes a step back in 2027, none of this will happen,” he added.

Additional reporting by George Steer