The president presented the deal's conditions with characteristic bluntness: Argentina's leader Javier Milei must win his next election.

"If he loses, we are not going to be generous with Argentina," Trump declared. "The election is coming up very soon," he added:

"Victory [for Milei] is very important. Your poll numbers, I hear, are pretty good. I think they'll be better after this."

Milei's own race is not due until October 2027, but the country is holding its midterm elections later this month. In recent provincial races in Buenos Aires, Milei's La Libertad Avanza coalition underperformed. The party is also reeling from several corruption scandals. A poor showing in the midterms could weaken Milei's grip on the country's congress and stall his reform agenda.

Noninterventionists at home could have winced as the self-styled champion of "America First" openly interfered in another nation's politics. But then it was fiscal conservatives' turn to recoil when the president unveiled his rationale for sending billions abroad.

Pressed on how the arrangement would benefit the United States, Trump offered the kind of airy idealism usually reserved for commencement speeches rather than billion-dollar commitments.

"Just helping a great philosophy take over a great country," he said, adding that Argentina was "one of the most beautiful countries" he had ever seen and that he wanted to see it "succeed, very simple."

Asked again what was in it for America, Trump, with candor rarely heard in Washington, said,

"We don't have to do it. It's not going to make a big difference for our country, but it will for South America."

There are other parties standing to benefit. More on that later.

Bessent's Blueprint

In his September 24 post on X, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlined the administration's sweeping plan to stabilize Argentina's economy.