3:44President Donald Trump greets Argentine President Javier Milei at the White House in Washington, October 14, 2025. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
President Donald Trump’s $20 billion financial support package for Argentina’s economy has sparked concern in the U.S., particularly among American growers desperate for assistance in addressing an agricultural crisis set off by his commerce dispute with China.
Argentina’s President Javier Milei engaged with Trump and leading U.S. figures, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Tuesday at the Executive Mansion.
The encounter occurred nearly a week following Bessent’s declaration of a $20 billion economic injection, encompassing a currency exchange arrangement with Argentina’s monetary authority intended to bolster the Argentine peso.
President Donald Trump welcomes Argentina’s President Javier Milei at the White House in Washington, October 14, 2025.Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
“We simply desire to see Argentina succeed,” Trump conveyed to journalists during the meeting.
Details still unclear
In an X communication last week, Bessent stated that the U.S. finalized a $20 billion exchange facility, or a loan, with Argentina’s central bank, wherein the U.S. Treasury will trade dollars for pesos.
The anticipation, Bessent has expressed, is for those dollars to be repaid eventually.
Bessent also mentioned last week the U.S. directly acquired pesos, without detailing the amount.
The Treasury Department had not released any specifics concerning the swap arrangement’s terms as of Tuesday, and the dollars it’s offering to Argentina’s central bank are ultimately derived from U.S. taxpayer funds.
“You might term it a bailout, perhaps a rescue; it is a credit line extended to a nation that would otherwise exhaust its reserves,” Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former Treasury official, informed ABC News.
Bessent has consistently refuted that the agreement constitutes a bailout, asserting that the U.S. is championing the financial overhauls of a vital South American partner and advancing U.S. strategic aims within the region.
Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent speaks at the Federal Reserve Board’s Community Bank Conference at the Federal Reserve Board headquarters in Washington, October 9, 2025.Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
The Treasury Department has not acknowledged ABC News’ inquiries seeking further details on the arrangement.
Farmers, leaders on both sides sound off
The financial assistance has kindled debate with farmers, Democrats, and some Republicans questioning the logic behind the U.S. committing billions to stimulate a foreign nation’s economy, notably when countless American soybean farmers grapple with hardship and necessitate support.
China discontinued procuring American soybeans amid the commerce conflict with the United States. As per the American Soybean Association, China is the foremost purchaser of American soybeans, acquiring more than 50 percent of U.S. exports in 2023 and 2024.
While certain American farmers have voiced apprehension about insolvencies and repossessions due to their setbacks, Argentina and Brazil’s farmers are progressively catering to Chinese markets – with soybeans.
Ben Steffen, a Nebraska soybean and corn grower, engaging with ABC News from his tractor Tuesday, stated that the U.S. is “rescuing our rival in the soybean production arena.”
“Evidently, individuals are displeased with the markets, and my neighbors are dissatisfied with bailing out Argentina,” he conveyed.
U.S. $20 billion lifeline to ArgentinaWhiteHouse.gov; U.S. Department of the Treasury; Spencer Platt/Staff Getty Images
Minnesota farmer Darin Johnson suggested that China’s soybean acquisitions from Argentina have diminished the U.S.’s bargaining power in trade negotiations by fulfilling China’s requirement for the commodity.
However, he incorporated that numerous farmers remain supportive of Trump, in spite of any grievances concerning certain administration policies.
“We are placing trust in this administration that we will secure a trade arrangement, but our time is dwindling,” Johnson remarked. “Absent some aid from this administration, about which we remain uncertain, a considerable degree of ambiguity persists.”
Farmer Scott Thomsen, pictured here with ABC’s Matt Rivers, is preparing for the fall soybean harvest in eastern Nebraska.Ben Siegel & Matt Rivers/ABC News
Ryan Marquardt, an Iowa farmer, conveyed to ABC News on Tuesday that the financial assistance for Argentina seems to contrast with Trump’s “America First” perspective.
“It does convey the sense that you are bolstering your competition. It appears counterintuitive to the America First ideology,” he commented. “I discern no scenario where we benefit from this exchange.”
Democrats have reproached the White House for overlooking farmers and other Americans amid economic upheaval and doubt.
“The truth is evident: Trump prioritized another nation over America, providing a bailout while forsaking American farmers,” the Democratic National Committee proclaimed in a press release Monday.
Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley also rebuked the administration’s priorities in an X message last month, as rumors of the Argentine deal circulated.
“Why would the USA assist in bailing out Argentina while they seize American soybean producers’ paramount market,” he queried. “We should employ leverage at every juncture to aid the struggling farm economy. Family farmers should be paramount in negotiations conducted by U.S. representatives.”
The American Soybean Association’s president, Kentucky farmer Caleb Ragland, expressed in a statement in September that “frustration” with the Trump administration was “overwhelming.”
“U.S. soybean values are diminishing, the harvest is ongoing, and farmers are encountering headlines not about securing a trade accord with China, but about the U.S. government extending $20 billion in economic support to Argentina while that nation reduces its soybean export levies to vend 20 shiploads of Argentine soybeans to China in merely two days,” Ragland stated.
“The agricultural economy is ailing while our competitors are replacing the United States in the globe’s largest soybean import market,” he appended.
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Argentina’s President Javier Milei at the White House in Washington, October 14, 2025.Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Trump has vowed to assist soybean farmers, at one point suggesting that funds from tariffs would be allocated to provide them with financial relief, but no such proposal had been formalized as of Tuesday.
The administration has attributed the ongoing federal government impasse to delaying the introduction of an aid initiative.
The president has also implored China to acquire U.S. soybeans — to no avail.
“President Trump pledged to prioritize American farmers, and every groundbreaking trade pact that his Administration has forged with the EU, Japan, and others incorporates unprecedented stipulations to augment American agricultural exports,” White House spokesman Kush Desai asserted in a statement to ABC News.
“The Administration persists in advocating for American farmers in trade discussions and remains dedicated to utilizing tariff revenues to support farmers left vulnerable due to inequitable international trade practices,” he further stated.
Trump says deal helps South American conservative ally before election
The Argentine financial support emerges during a politically critical juncture for its divisive president.
Milei has garnered attention for his libertarian convictions and has frequently been seen with conservative leaders and figures, including Elon Musk, with whom he appeared at this year’s CPAC, receiving a now-famous mock chainsaw and praising Musk’s DOGE cuts.
In this Feb. 20, 2025, file photo, Elon Musk holds a chainsaw alongside Argentine President Javier Milei during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland.Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
Trump has often lauded Milei and endorsed his leadership, commending his right-leaning, austerity-focused agenda in Argentina.
“They possess an exceptional leader,” Trump communicated to reporters just ahead of his dialogue with Milei on Tuesday.
However, the 55-year-old faces formidable rivalry in Argentina’s Oct. 26 election, having experienced escalating disapproval ratings over recent months, as reported by Reuters.
The U.S. arrangement aims to stabilize the peso as Argentine voters prepare to cast their ballots.
“We are facilitating the ascendancy of a great philosophy in a great nation… we want him to triumph,” Trump declared Tuesday, adding that Milei’s prosperity could inspire other South American nations to emulate its political direction.
Trump later qualified that the currency swap hinged on Milei’s performance during the nation’s impending elections.
“Should he falter, our generosity toward Argentina will cease,” Trump cautioned. “Absent his victory, we are departing,” he affirmed.
Argentina’s President Javier Milei speaks during a meeting with President Donald Trump in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, October 14, 2025.Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Trump replied “no” when questioned whether the currency swap was an “America First” policy, or simply intended to assist Milei in the forthcoming election.
Bessent echoed the president’s sentiment Tuesday, asserting that the U.S. is leveraging its economic prowess to foster peace in South America.
“It offers promise for the future,” Bessent remarked. “I believe that, bolstered by the assistance the U.S. is extending and sound policies, Argentina can attain greatness once more.”
Bessent’s finance colleagues come under scrutiny
Bessent has likewise been under fire regarding Argentina’s affiliations with certain former colleagues in the financial sector.
Rob Citrone, a billionaire previously associated with Bessent, maintains substantial investments in Latin America and Argentina, as evidenced by SEC filings.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Energy Secretary Chris Wright attend a meeting with President Donald Trump and Argentina’s President Javier Milei in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Oct. 14, 2025, in Washington.Alex Brandon/AP
A spokesperson for Citrone and Discovery Capital Management, his hedge fund, declined to offer any commentary to ABC News.
Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller—a long-standing acquaintance of Bessent—has publicly declared his investment in Argentina subsequent to Milei’s election. Druckenmiller did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for feedback.
The Treasury Department did not acknowledge messages seeking comment on reports of Bessent discussing Argentina with Citrone, or additional requests for comment regarding the accord.
Bessent denied any link between the arrangement and his finance associates during a CNBC interview last week, stating that the “notion that we are aiding affluent Americans with interests in that region could not be further from the truth.”
“What we are undertaking is safeguarding a U.S. strategic stake in the Western Hemisphere,” he appended.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray and Fritz Farrow contributed to this report.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
