Wealthy American investors with close ties to Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, stand to gain from a bailout for Argentina.

The Trump administration moved forward on Thursday with its bailout of Argentina, making a direct purchase of pesos and finalizing terms of a $20 billion lifeline, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

The terms and conditions of the economic support package were not announced, but Mr. Bessent said the funds would come in the form of a currency swap with Argentina’s central bank. Big global investors have been anxiously awaiting the details of the bailout, which critics have said will benefit wealthy fund managers at a time when American farmers are struggling and the U.S. government is shut down.

Officials from both countries spent the last four days racing to finalize terms of the bailout ahead of high-stakes legislative elections in Argentina later this month and a visit to Washington next week by President Javier Milei, Argentina’s libertarian leader who is a close ally of President Trump.

“Argentina faces a moment of acute illiquidity,” Mr. Bessent wrote on X. “The U.S. Treasury is prepared, immediately, to take whatever exceptional measures are warranted to provide stability to markets.”

The Treasury secretary added that American business leaders have told him that they want to deepen ties with Argentina and that the Trump administration will stand behind its Latin American ally.

But the administration’s decision to rescue Argentina’s economy is raising concerns about whether the real aim is to help rich investors whose bets on Argentina could falter if its economy sinks.

Those efforts have been complicated by the fact that major hedge