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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios. Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski/Getty Images.
The White House is happy to pick fights with most of its allies, from Canada to Germany, but on Monday it singled out two Latin American countries — El Salvador and Argentina — for praise and support.
Why it matters: The meetings underscore the way in which the Trump administration likes to reward countries with right-wing leadership.
- In that sense, El Salvador and Argentina are the Latin American versions of Hungary and Slovakia in Europe.
Driving the news: While El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, the self-described "world's coolest dictator," was in the White House giving his full support to President Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was down in Buenos Aires, greeting Argentine President Javier Milei with a big hug.
For the record: "Secretary Bessent affirmed the United States' full support for President Milei's bold economic reforms," the official readout of the meeting says. It describes how he "emphasized the United States' trust in President Milei to continue advancing Argentina's positive economic momentum."
Between the lines: Bukele and Milei are the avatars of a populist right in Latin America, taking every opportunity to make deals with Trump.
Where it stands: Argentina on Friday signed a $20 billion IMF deal that came with $12 billion up front, money desperately needed in a country struggling with anemic foreign reserves and an overvalued currency.
- As the largest IMF shareholder, the U.S. was critical to getting the deal approved. The deal lets Argentina float its currency, which promptly depreciated 11% to about 1,200 pesos to the dollar.
- That's actually toward the strong end of Argentina's new exchange rate band that keeps the number of pesos per dollar between 1,100 and 1,400.
Zoom in: Martin Guzman, a former finance minister of Argentina, said in a speech at the Vatican this month that the country's new IMF loan looks as though it was "politically motivated."
- If the IMF disburses such large amounts in the face of political pressure, he said, that will act to "compromise the fund's ability to fulfill its core mission."
- Yet Trump is openly flirting with leaving the IMF entirely. If that's really his intention, he's all the more likely to want to reward an ally on his way out.
What they're saying: A White House official tells Axios, "President Trump welcomes the IMF's loan to Argentina, which will support President Milei's groundbreaking and urgently needed economic reforms that will drive growth for Argentina and the region at large."
- "This moment also creates new opportunities to deepen the U.S.-Argentina partnership and shared prosperity."
The bottom line: If you want to be on good terms with Trump, it helps to be an iconoclastic populist right-winger.
