Argentine President Javier Milei will visit Washington this week to ask for US President Donald Trump’s help in securing funds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) while negotiating an exemption from trade tariffs proposed by the Trump administration.
The visit comes as Milei faces backlash at home over his “brief” promotion of the memecoin LIBRA, which investors and lawyers claim was a rug pull project. The Argentine leader hopes to meet with former President Trump as part of his push for a new IMF agreement to stabilize his country’s struggling economy.
As reported by local news publication Buenos Aires Herald, talks with the IMF began in mid-December last year. The libertarian economist believes the funding will help implement his aggressive economic reforms.
However, his diplomatic efforts are being overshadowed by controversy over LIBRA, a cryptocurrency he promoted on social media before quickly deleting the post.
LIBRA causes controversy after market collapse
Last Friday, Milei posted on X about LIBRA, a token he claimed was designed to “encourage economic growth by funding small businesses and startups.”
Market data shows the post briefly fueled the token’s value to reach a two-month high of $0.00184. However, Milei deleted the post within hours, triggering a sharp collapse that led it to an all-time low of $0.0005237, a downtick of over 85%.
Financial data site Dexscreener reported that Libra holders lost over $4.5 billion, with some investors like Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy calling it one of the biggest “rug pulls” in crypto history.
Hayden Davis, the digital entrepreneur behind the memecoin and CEO of Kelsier Ventures, claimed he was an adviser to Milei and had been working with his team on “bigger tokenization projects in Argentina.” According to Bloomberg, Davis said Milei was actively involved in promoting the token but later went back on his endorsement.
However, in an official government statement released on Saturday, the Argentine President’s Office denied any affiliation with Davis, stating that Milei was never involved in the token’s creation or promotion. The government went on to say the president’s post was a “routine announcement” and was removed to prevent speculation and limit further financial exposure.
Legal complaints and political fallout
By Sunday, Argentine lawyers had filed fraud complaints against Milei in criminal court, accusing him of facilitating an “illicit association to commit an indeterminate number of frauds.” Jonatan Baldiviezo, one of the plaintiffs, argued that Milei’s endorsement was “aware of his involvement” in what they see as fraudulent activity.
The case is expected to move forward today, with judicial authorities set to assign a judge or refer it to a prosecutor for investigation.
Former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, a longtime political opponent and heavy critic of Milei, alleged that “thousands who trusted him lost millions, while some made fortunes due to privileged information.”
She and other opposition leaders have used the scandal to push for impeachment proceedings. However, with Argentina’s Congress requiring a two-thirds majority to remove a president, such an effort is highly unlikely to succeed.
Political analysts have drawn comparisons between Milei’s presidency and Trump’s due to his confrontational political style and deregulation policies. Just like the US president, he has withdrawn Argentina from the World Health Organization while hinting at a potential exit from the Paris climate accord.
He was elected in 2023 with over 55% of the votes, defeating Peronist Minister of Economy Sergio Massa, and has helped the South American country’s inflation rate drop to 2.2%, as of January 2025. Opinion polls indicate his approval rating has remained around 47%.
Still, the controversy has renewed concerns about Milei’s unpredictable leadership style. Alejandro Catterberg, director of Buenos Aires-based consulting firm Poliarquia, warned that while Argentina is making economic progress, Milei’s head-strong decisions could bring down the public’s confidence in his government.
“Macroeconomic balance needs to come along with emotional balance,” Catterberg said. “These types of things create a lot of unnecessary uncertainty.”
