‘He had a lot of help’ from US: Trump says he gave Milei ‘strong endorsement’ for Argentina election win

US President Donald Trump on Monday (Oct 27) said that Argentina’s President Javier Milei has a “lot of help” from the United States in his party’s landslide victory in the midterm elections. Trump’s remarks come after Milei’s La Libertad Avanza (LLA) party secured a win in Sunday’s polls, rebounding from a series of setbacks with 40.7 per cent of the votes. The Trump administration had earlier offered a bailout potentially worth $40 billion to the country but warned it could reconsider support if Milei did not perform well.

Speaking on a trip to Asia, Trump hailed Milei’s win, calling it an unexpectedly “big win” and saying that it was “a great thing.”

“He had a lot of help from us. He had a lot of help. I gave him an endorsement, a very strong endorsement,” Trump said aboard Air Force One. He also praised his top officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who was overseeing the financial assistance to Argentina.

“We are sticking with a lot of the countries in South America. We focus very much on South America,” Trump said.
Ahead of the voting in Argentina, Trump signed $20 billion currency swap to support Milei. He also proposed a $20 billion debt investment facility.

“We’ve made a lot of money based on that election, because the bonds have gone up. Their whole debt rating has gone up,” Trump said, but added that the US was “not in that for the money, per se.”
Speaking to reporters, Bessent described the assistance as a “bridge” to help Milei’s economic project.

“He’s working against 100 years of bad policies,” he said. “He’s gonna break them thanks to support from the United States.”