Less than six months ago, US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent was in Buenos Aires, congratulating President Javier Milei on “bringing Argentina back from the precipice”, as the libertarian secured more than $40bn in loans from the IMF and multilateral lenders to bolster his government.
Now, with political and economic mis-steps sparking panic in Argentina’s markets, the South American nation is once again on the brink, and the Trump administration is preparing to bail out its ideological ally.
In an apparent attempt to halt a sell-off of Argentine assets, Bessent announced on Monday that the Trump administration “stands ready to do what is needed” to support Argentina and that “all options for stabilisation are on the table”.