Is Trump trying to sway Argentina's election?
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 23 October 2025
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Donald Trump is promising to give Argentina $20 billion to save its struggling economy but only if incumbent President Javier Milei holds onto power in the midterm elections this weekend. So why does Trump care about a country 5,000 miles away? And is this part of a broader swing to the right across South America?
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Guest: Stephen Gibbs, contributor, Latin America and the Caribbean, The Times and The Sunday Times.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Producer: Olivia Case.
Read more:
- Trump to Argentina voters: Back Javier Milei to get US billions
- María Corina Machado wins Nobel peace prize — to fury of Trump’s team
Further listening: Are Trump's strikes in Venezuela a 'war on drugs' - or a grab for oil?
Clips: AP, Forbes, ABC, PBS, Vivo / YouTube, New York Post, The Guardian.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From the Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. I'm Manvine Rana. |
| 0:11.2 | Earlier this year, President Trump and much of the new administration took to the stage at a major conservative conference |
| 0:22.3 | in Washington, D.C. But despite an all-star lineup, the most memorable moment came when Elon Musk, |
| 0:30.1 | still a White House insider back then, introduced a man most Americans probably hadn't heard of. |
| 0:37.3 | Who else is here? |
| 0:38.7 | Well, President Malé has a gift for me. |
| 0:42.5 | Javier Malay from Argentina. |
| 0:43.9 | You guys know what that is, right? |
| 0:47.0 | Cue the 54-year-old president of Argentina, Javier Malé, |
| 0:51.9 | who strides onto the stage with his trademark shock of dark hair and epic sideburns, |
| 0:58.4 | wielding a huge red chainsaw, which he presents to Elon Musk. |
| 1:03.1 | This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy. |
| 1:07.4 | Change saw! |
| 1:10.3 | The chainsaw for bureaucracy and a slashing public spending. |
| 1:16.0 | Malays Argentina providing a template for Musk's Doge. |
| 1:20.7 | But rather like Doge, the experiment hasn't completely gone to plan. |
| 1:28.9 | Argentina is an economic crisis. Growth is slowing. Inflation is ticking up. The peso has come |
| 1:36.7 | under attack. Luckily for President Millay, an economic lifeline is on its way. President Trump |
| 1:44.0 | has announced a $20 billion bailout for Argentina. |
| 1:48.0 | Argentina is one of the most beautiful countries that I've ever seen. |
| 1:51.3 | We want to see it succeed. |
| 1:52.7 | It's very simple. |
... |
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