U.S. President Donald Trump, who visited the White House on Friday, said that the United States would stop providing financial support to Argentina if Miles failed to win the election.

Photo by Argentine President Javier Millau (data/visual China)

On the same day, Miley arrived in Washington for a state visit. Trump in response to media questions in the White House said: ¡°The election is coming ... I think the victory is very important ... We agree (to support al-Qaeda) to some extent depends on who wins the election. If he wins, we will continue to support him; if he doesn¡¯t win, we will withdraw.¡±

U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent, who attended the meeting, said he believes the ruling coalition will perform well in the midterm elections to Congress, and that the U.S. side will ¡°re-think¡± aid if alban policy ¡°turns to the left¡± after the election.

According to The White House, citing the Financial Times, that the "elections" Trump referred to were specifically the elections in Argentina, the White House spokesman said that Trump was referring to the presidential elections in Argentina in 2027.According to Associated Press, Trump believes the $20 billion exchange deal is just about ¡°helping our neighbors,¡± ¡°helping a great philosophy take over a great country,¡± and not about the mid-term elections.

Before Trump made the above remarks, the United States announced on the 9th that it would directly purchase the Argentine peso and finalize a US$20 billion currency swap framework agreement with the Central Bank of Argentina. Some analysts said that the U.S. move will help Argentina stabilize the market and boost the economy.

After the White House meeting, Argentina¡¯s major equity index (Melval Index, Merval Index) fell more than 4 percent that day. Economist Gabriel Camano, at the Buenos Aires advisory firm Outlier, said: ¡°When Trump stated that the support was dependent on the election outcome, the markets reacted poorly because the election outcome seemed unclear.¡±The former Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund, Hector Torres, described Trump¡¯s direct ¡°support¡± to Milay as ¡°a lead-made lifecycle.¡±

On September 25, in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, people walked past a fruit and vegetable store with special advertisements posted (Photo by Martin Sabara, Xinhua Agency)

Argentina will hold a midterm parliamentary election on October 26 to elect half of the House and a third of the Senate, an election widely regarded as a referendum against the Milley government. But in early September, the Milley-led ruling coalition, the Liberal Progressive Party, lost the local parliamentary election, which was seen as a midterm trend, and sparked turmoil in Argentina's financial markets. Milley's sister was also involved in bribery scandals. These factors led to Milley's steady decline in support.

The meeting between Trump and Milley caused shock in Argentina. Argentine leftist opposition leader and two-time president Cristina Fernandez wrote on social media platforms: ¡°Trump to Milley: ¡®Our deal depends on who wins the election.¡¯ Argentinians... you know what to do!¡± leftist MP candidate Jorge Tajana said on social media platforms that Trump is ¡®chantageing¡¯ Argentinians, and voters should not listen to ¡®who the President of the United States asks us to vote for.¡¯

In the U.S., Republicans have also expressed dissatisfaction with Trump¡¯s move to support Argentina, because after China stopped purchasing soybeans from the U.S., Argentina temporarily lifted the grain export tax and since Argentina robbed the largest market of U.S. soybeans producers, why should we save Argentina?¡± said Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Glasley last month.

Argentina has a wealth of critical mineral resources such as lithium and copper that are critical to manufacturing.While both Chinese and U.S. companies have made significant investments in Argentina¡¯s lithium mines, U.S. government officials believe that Argentina¡¯s presence as a major South American economy is a ¡°risk¡± to deepen ties with China, and that strengthening ties with the Millay government will help to resist China¡¯s influence in the region.

Extended reading

Trump: I would be upset if Argentina worked with the Chinese military

According to Bloomberg, on October 14 local time, U.S. President Donald Trump was worried about China-Arab relations when he met with Argentine President Milley. he told Milley that the U.S. government would not allow any ¡°Chinese military activity¡± in Argentina.

¡°You can do some trade with China, but you should definitely not go beyond that range, and especially shouldn¡¯t do any military-related cooperation with China.

On the same day, Trump and Milei met at the White House. Earlier, U.S. Treasury Secretary Bescent had pledged broad support for Argentina's troubled currency and overall economy, a move aimed at giving Milei a boost ahead of key midterm elections later this month.

Although Besent announced last week that it had finalized a US$20 billion currency swap line agreement with Argentina. However, in addition to mentioning China's activities in Argentina, Trump still insisted that Millay needed a "good performance" in the October 26 midterm elections to receive the currency swap line. Relevant remarks caused Argentina's sovereign bond prices to fall in the afternoon of the same day.

After Trump and Millay delivered their opening speeches, Millay did not speak again when Trump accepted questions from reporters.

On October 14, local time, Trump and Milei met at the White House (Bloomberg)

Earlier, it was that the Trump administration had pressured Argentina to cancel the currency exchange agreement with China.Besent explained on 14 that U.S. financial assistance to Argentina does not depend on whether the Millie government terminates the $18 billion deal with the central bank of China.

¡°I¡¯m referring more to the ports, military bases and observation facilities that are established in Argentina,¡± Bezent said.

The report pointed out that Besent's remarks almost pointed to China's space observatory in Argentina's Patagonia region, and echoed Besent's previous claim that Millay had promised to "let China withdraw from Argentina."

In 2012, the then Argentine government granted China the right to build a 494-acre observatory in Neuquén province, Patagonia, for a period of 50 years. Milei's predecessor, Fernandez, renewed the agreement to establish a joint venture with China to cooperate in space exploration.

Successive U.S. administrations have slandered China for "secretly carrying out military activities" at the Patagonian Observatory. Shortly after Trump made the above remarks, Argentine Security Minister Bullrich denied that the two sides had specifically discussed issues related to the observatory.

Previously, a spokesperson for the China Embassy in Argentina refuted Besent's remarks that U.S. Treasury Secretary Besent's provocative remarks on China-Arab relations and China-Latin America cooperation once again exposed the deep-rooted Cold War and confrontational mentality of some people in the United States.

The spokesman pointed out that Latin America and the Caribbean are not anyone's "backyard", and China-Latin America cooperation is not aimed at third parties, nor should it be interfered by third parties. Countries in the region have the right to choose their own development paths and partners. Instead of sowing discord and making much ado about nothing with other countries' friendly cooperation, the United States should do more tangible things for the development of Latin American and Caribbean countries.