According to the Argentine press and US media, the trip aimed to advance the bilateral agenda: meetings with investors, trade and investment offices, and follow-up on the $20 billion swap line that Bessent had pushed weeks earlier to bolster the Argentine economy. The cancellation severely punishes the confidence that the alliance between Milei and the Donald J. Trump administration had generated. Even official sources admit that the alliance 'suffered an unexpected setback.' The economic background to the crisis—with debt maturities of nearly $5 billion in January 2026—now exposes the vulnerability of the stabilization plan that counted on Washington's support as a central pillar. In Washington, Milei's decision was seen as a sign of little diplomatic seriousness at a time when the United States was trying to consolidate Argentina as a strategic ally in Latin America, amid Buenos Aires' growing commercial ties with China. In the Casa Rosada, the impact is immediate. Although Bessent had publicly stated that the US had already made money from the swap and reiterated his bet on Milei's project, the cancellation of the visit sends a clear message: bilateral cooperation has limits when diplomatic commitment crumbles. For now, the White House has left any rescheduling of the visit pending, while Buenos Aires faces the need to renegotiate its financial and diplomatic agenda under a new climate of uncertainty. The decision was made after Milei backed out of traveling to Washington for the 2026 World Cup draw, a gesture that those in the US environment interpreted as a snub. The suspension of the visit, initially planned for the first week of December, was confirmed today by sources from the Treasury Department. The abrupt cutback in the high-level agenda complicates pending negotiations to sign a bilateral trade agreement, delaying key meetings with US business leaders and generating doubts about the future of external financing. BUENOS AIRES, December 3, 2025 – Total News Agency-TNA – The unexpected cancellation of the visit of US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to Argentina deepens the White House's annoyance with the government of President Javier Milei and marks a new chapter of diplomatic tension between the two countries. The consequences of this break could have political and economic ramifications both inside and outside the country.
