Washington is facing mounting political pressure over its multibillion-dollar support for Argentina, as critics question the Trump administration’s backing of President Javier Milei’s libertarian government ahead of midterm elections this Sunday. The financial assistance, spearheaded by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, includes measures aimed at stabilizing Argentina’s economy and currency.
Bessent signed a $20bn swap line agreement with the Argentine central bank on Tuesday, part of a broader US effort to prop up Buenos Aires. Washington has also engaged US banks to facilitate a further $20bn in private-sector-backed loans, while intervening directly in currency markets to support the peso.
“President Milei has worked hard to reverse previous irresponsible economic policies… We do not want another failed state in Latin America, and a strong, stable Argentina as a good neighbor is explicitly in the strategic interest of the United States,” Bessent wrote on X.
However, the scale and timing of the intervention have sparked criticism across the political spectrum, including from Trump’s own MAGA allies and Republicans in key farm states. Firebrand Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized the rescue on X, writing: “Tell me how it’s America First to bailout a foreign country with $20 or even $40 BILLION taxpayer dollars. Many [Americans] have zero savings and some are maxing out credit cards to survive.”
The backlash intensified as China shifted soybean purchases from the US to Argentina amid trade tensions, and Trump announced plans to buy Argentine beef, angering US farmers. “That really went down like a lead balloon,” Nebraska Republican Don Bacon told the Financial Times. “This is what happens when you have a president that bases policy on personalities. He obviously likes the leader of Argentina, so he’s bending over backwards for him.”
Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska also voiced concern over the beef purchases, urging the administration to prioritize trade deals benefiting American agricultural producers.
Some analysts have defended the US support. Michael Strain, economic policy analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, said the risk to taxpayers is limited, arguing that Milei’s reforms align with traditional American free enterprise principles and support US leadership in Latin America.
Democrats in the House, led by California Representative Linda Sánchez, have criticized the move as politicized, alleging that the Treasury’s rescue is tied to Argentina’s midterms. In a letter to Bessent, they wrote that US financial tools “should not be used to influence elections abroad.”
