'US ready to support Argentina with 'large and forceful' action, Treasury chief says'

WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday said that "all options" were on the table for stabilizing Argentina, including swap lines and direct currency purchases, while underscoring President Donald Trump's confidence in Argentine President Javier Milei and his economic team.

Bessent told reporters any U.S. action would be "large and forceful," but said no steps would be taken until after he and Trump meet with Milei in New York on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Markets have been roiled by corruption allegations inside Milei's circle and a larger-than-expected loss in a local election in Buenos Aires, reflecting growing frustration with austerity measures and triggering investor concern over Milei's ability to continue to reshape the economy, with October midterm elections on the horizon.

"What they're trying to do is bolster Argentina until the elections - if they can get that far," said Mark Sobel, a former senior U.S. Treasury official and current U.S. chairman of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum think tank.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-treasury-chief-us-ready-support-argentina-leaders-meet-tuesday-2025-09-22/

'Donald Trump just saved Javier Milei'

"The US announced it is ready to provide dollar liquidity to Argentina, halting the beginnings of a financial panic. This alliance between radical right-wing leaders is a far cry from free-market doctrine."

"Javier Milei, Argentina's libertarian president, an ardent advocate of the free market and the 'creative destruction' championed by the early 20th-century Austrian economist, has just been saved at the last minute by an intervention from Donald Trump."

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2025/09/23/donald-trump-just-saved-javier-milei_6745666_19.html

'Trump’s Bad Plan to Make America Argentina Again'

March 3, 2025, Opinion: "President Trump, Elon Musk and President Javier Milei of Argentina have formed a special bond. Mr. Milei was the first foreign leader to meet with Mr. Trump days after he won the U.S. presidential election. Mr. Trump has called Mr. Milei his “favorite president.” And Mr. Musk has been in close contact with Mr. Milei’s government reform team since the U.S. election in November, if not before. So it was no surprise to Argentina watchers that Mr. Trump began his term by blocking government cash flows and firing workers, exactly as Mr. Milei’s government started doing a year ago. In recent months, Mr. Milei has been bragging about the “export” of his reform model. Governments should no doubt borrow good practices from one another. But it should give us pause that the United States, the world’s leading economy, is borrowing government reform techniques from Argentina, a nine-time serial defaulter and 100-year economic laggard. Mr. Trump, Mr. Musk and Mr. Milei may share the same anti-state rhetoric and use the same techniques, but they are taking their countries in very different directions."

https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/mrcbg/publications/trumps-bad-plan-make-america-argentina-again