United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the US government has profited from the $20bn currency swap provided to Argentina. In addition to the initial $20bn swap line, which Bessent confirmed is now active, the US floated plans for an additional $20bn privately funded facility to invest in Argentine sovereign debt, bringing total US support to $40bn.

"We used our financial balance sheet to stabilise the government, one of our great allies in Latin America, during an election," Bessent stated in an MSNBC interview on November 11. "The president there won in a landslide, the government is going to make money."

Bessent referenced Argentina's midterm legislative elections, where President Javier Milei's La Libertad Avanza party secured a decisive victory. "In most bailouts, you don't make money," he continued. "The US government made money."

The Treasury Secretary framed the intervention as part of a broader strategy to build alliances across Latin America, a continent where China is rapidly expanding its footprint, citing upcoming elections in Chile and Colombia as additional opportunities for US-aligned conservatives to dislodge leftist governments. "By stabilising the economy there and making a profit, then that is a very good deal for the American people," Bessent said.

He explicitly contrasted this approach with potential outcomes under previous Argentine administrations, stating, "We are preventing the collapse of a government and the return to a Peronist agenda and a left-wing government." Bessent drew parallels to Venezuela under Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, suggesting the US intervention prevented a similar trajectory.

“I would rather use peace through economic strength than have to be shooting at narco boats coming offshore [after] a government collapse,” Bessent said, referring to the US military buildup off the Venezuelan coast which the US claims is aimed at combating narco-trafficking.

The extraordinary US support, which sparked controversy at home, extended beyond the swap agreement. Following Milei's defeat in provincial Buenos Aires elections in September, Washington intervened to prop up the falling peso with $1bn in purchases, helping the libertarian leader avoid the political fallout from a currency collapse in the midterm campaign's final stretch.

This unprecedented financial commitment to Argentina represents a significant geopolitical gamble for the Trump administration, effectively tying American economic interests to Milei's reform agenda. While Bessent's optimistic assessment projects profitability, the strategy's success depends on Argentina's ability to maintain fiscal discipline and political stability.

The substantial US backing could strengthen Milei's position domestically, though it increases pressure on his administration to deliver results that justify Washington's confidence.