Trump admin delivers financial lifeline to Argentina in $20 billion currency swap as Milei visits White House

The financial lifeline is a $20 billion currency swap with Argentina, exchanging US dollars with pesos—currency that is more volatile. The swap also comes as there have been some concerns with liquidity of currency in Argentina.

The move from the Trump administration came ahead of Milei's visit to the White House on Tuesday, where Trump gave the Argentinian president praise.

The exchange also happens as key midterm elections are taking place in Argentina. Diego Celedon, the head of equity strategy for JPMorgan Chase in the region, said the swap “marks a pivotal moment for Argentina’s financial stability," per CNBC. “The US support acts as a circuit breaker, halting the negative feedback loop that had threatened to deepen Argentina’s economic strain."

Celedon added, “Overall, the American intervention has transformed Argentina’s short-term outlook, but the administration must now leverage its political capital to fully capitalize on this window of opportunity."

When the swap was carried out, the peso appreciated significantly last week. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said of the swap that the US was in a position to help in “a moment of acute illiquidity."

During Trump's meeting with Milei, he also gave a framed letter to Trump recommending the US president for the Nobel Peace Prize. During the meeting, Trump was also asked about a few different policies, including how to get the bodies of deceased hostages out of Israel. When asked if he knew Hamas would disarm, Trump responded, "If they don't disarm, we will disarm them."

Trump was also asked about Spain, and how the country has not committed to putting up 5 percent of its GDP to NATO like other countries in the alliance. He said that as a result, he may impose tariffs on Spain.

"I think what [Spain] did is not nice. I think it's very disrespectful to NATO. In fact I was thinking about giving them trade punishment through tariffs because of what they did," Trump said.