Amid the government shutdown that has furloughed and fired tens of thousands of workers here in the U.S., President Trump has offered a $20 billion bailout for Argentina. Earlier this year, Argentina’s far-right President Javier Milei attended the conservative CPAC conference in the U.S., where he gifted billionaire Elon Musk a chain saw. On Tuesday, Trump hosted Milei at the White House and conditioned Argentina’s bailout funds on Milei’s party winning legislative elections this month.

President Donald Trump: “We’re going to work very much with the president. We think he’s going to win. He should win. And if he does win, we’re going to be very helpful. And if he doesn’t win, we’re not going to waste our time, because you have somebody whose philosophy has no chance of making Argentina great again.”

It comes as critics point out that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s friends who lead major financial firms, including BlackRock, Fidelity and PIMCO, are heavily invested in Argentina and would benefit financially.