特朗普称之为“朋友”的阿根廷保守派总统毛里西奥·马克里将在一届任期结束后于周二离任。在这届任期内，尽管特朗普承诺要改革南美国家的财政状况，但他的政府仍将监督通胀飙升和经济衰退。
麦克利在10月的选举中以很大优势落败，左翼候选人阿尔贝托·费尔南德斯获胜，他选择前总统克里斯蒂娜·费尔南德斯·德基什内尔作为他的竞选搭档。费尔南德斯·德基什内尔在麦克利之前担任总统八年，也曾经历过一段时间的经济危机，在右翼继任者的政策确立后，经济危机变得更加严重。
里士满大学政治学和全球研究副教授珍妮弗·普里布尔博士说:“这场危机有着深刻的根源，但马克里总统对此反应不当，加剧了贫困和饥饿。”新闻周刊。
尽管阿根廷经济陷入困境，特朗普还是赞扬了麦克利去年11月的“出色表现”。
2018年11月30日，在阿根廷布宜诺斯艾利斯举行的20国集团峰会开幕式上，阿根廷总统毛里西奥·马克里迎接唐纳德·特朗普总统的到来
特朗普在与阿根廷领导人会面时谈到麦克利时说:“实际上，我和他父亲在[做生意。”。“那是在我的平民时代。”
特朗普补充道:“你是我很久的朋友，你做得非常好。”。
2016年特朗普当选后不久，阿根廷总统与特朗普家族的关系首次引起国际关注。当时，伊万卡·特朗普颇具争议地加入了她父亲和阿根廷领导人的通话，促使许多人表达了他们对总统将家庭成员和公务混为一谈的担忧。尽管遭到批评，特朗普还是不可避免地让伊万卡·特朗普和她的丈夫贾里德·库什纳担任白宫高级职位。
“在电话中，我还和他的女儿[·伊万卡聊了聊，”当时麦克利告诉日本报纸《朝日新闻》。"从她年幼时起，我就认识她了。"
尽管麦克利上台时承诺进行国际投资，并开放该国相对封闭的经济，同时承诺避免持续的金融危机，但通胀飙升，贫困加剧，外国投资保持在同一水平。当他在2015年12月就职时，阿根廷比索对美元的汇率徘徊在11比1左右，而现在大约是60比1。
国际治理创新中心高级研究员、国际货币基金组织前执行董事赫克托·托雷斯在一篇文章中写道:“麦克利完成了四年前似乎不可能完成的事情:恶化了他继承的可怕的经济形势。”英国《金融时报》周日出版。
2018年11月30日，在20国集团峰会间隙，阿根廷总统毛里西奥·马克里在阿根廷布宜诺斯艾利斯欢迎白宫顾问伊万卡·特朗普
普里布尔向他解释道新闻周刊大多数经济学家指出，麦克利2017年“暂停通胀目标”的决定是“引发金融危机”的关键她解释说，“随着通货膨胀的加剧和比索的贬值，政府一直反应缓慢，似乎无法制定出应对危机的计划。”
普里布尔说:“当选总统阿尔贝托·费尔南德斯抓住了这种缺乏远见的情况，提出了解决饥饿和贫困加剧的建议。”。然而，她指出，费尔南德斯在解决危机方面将面临困难的挑战。
“最近公布的数据显示贫困率为40.8%的人口和近60%的年轻人，”她说。“据估计，大约9%的阿根廷人缺乏粮食安全。总统需要迅速采取行动解决这场危机，但他的回旋余地将受到财政限制和贸易条件恶化的限制。”
TRUMP'S 'FRIEND' MAURICIO MACRI LEAVING PRESIDENCY IN ARGENTINA AFTER ESCALATING ECONOMIC CRISIS, OVERSEEING HIGH INFLATION
Conservative Argentinian President Mauricio Macri, who Trump has described as a "friend," will leave office on Tuesday after one term, in which his administration oversaw soaring inflation and an economic recession, despite promises of reforming the South American nation's financial situation.
Macri lost by a significant margin in the October election, which saw the victory of left-wing candidate Alberto Fernández, who selected former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner as his running mate. Fernández de Kirchner, who served as president for eight years prior to Macri, also oversaw a period of economic crisis, which grew worse after her right-wing successor's policies took hold.
"The crisis has deep roots, but President Macri mismanaged the response, exacerbating poverty and hunger," Dr. Jennifer Pribble, an associate professor of political science and global studies at the University of Richmond, told Newsweek.
Despite Argentina's struggling economy, Trump praised Macri for doing "an excellent job" in November of last year.
President of Argentina Mauricio Macri greets President Donald Trump upon his arrival during the opening day of Argentina G-20 Summit on November 30, 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina
"I actually did business [with] his father," Trump said of Macri, as he met with the Argentinian leader. "That was in my civilian days."
"You're my friend a long time and you're doing an excellent job," Trump added.
The Argentinian president's ties to the Trump family first drew international attention shortly after Trump's election in 2016. At the time, Ivanka Trump controversially joined a call with her father and the Argentinian leader, prompting many to state their concerns about the president mixing family members with official duties. Despite criticism, Trump inevitably gave Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner senior White House roles.
"In the call, I also talked with his daughter [Ivanka]," Macri told the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun at the time. "I have known her since her infant days."
Although Macri came to power with promises of international investment and opening up the country's relatively closed economy, while vowing to stave of an ongoing financial crisis, inflation soared, poverty increased and foreign investment remained around the same level. While the exchange between the Argentine peso to the U.S. dollar hovered around 11 to 1 when he took office in December 2015, it now stands at about 60 to 1.
Macri "accomplished what four years ago seemed impossible: worsening the horrible economic situation that he inherited," Hector Torres, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation and a former executive director at the International Monetary Fund, wrote in an article for The Financial Times published Sunday.
Argentina's President Mauricio Macri greets White House adviser Ivanka Trump in Buenos Aires, Argentina on November 30, 2018 on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit
Pribble explained to Newsweek that most economists point to Macri's 2017 decision to "suspend inflation targets" as key to "provoking the financial crisis." She explained that "as inflation grew and the peso devalued, the administration was consistently slow to respond and seemed unable to muster a plan for navigating the crisis."
"President-elect Alberto Fernández seized on this lack of vision, offering up proposals to address hunger and soaring poverty," Pribble said. However, she noted that Fernández will have a difficult challenge in addressing the crisis.
"Recently released figures put the poverty rate at 40.8 percent of the population and nearly 60 percent percent of youth," she said. "It is also estimated that roughly 9 percent of Argentines are food-insecure. The President will need to move swiftly to address this crisis, but his room for maneuver will be limited by fiscal constraints and declining terms of trade."
