Yesterday, Argentinians voted in midterm elections which were critical as the first nationwide referendum since President Javier Milei came to power and introduced his radical economic reforms. The recent bailout(s) from the US Treasury helped Milei’s La Libertad Avanza Party win the elections with 40.8% of the vote. However, not everyone is convinced: that result was better than even Milei’s own party hoped for.
![» To bail out his [Bessent's] dumb friends on Wall Street, that’s banana republic level corruption. «](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-WnpkbAE3Y6rpdWOZIQeJHeRjP9l8UPddS6HBa8_FNI1qlNfd4rvqSNwK6GhT_V4Lqfwxd_xW9g-cD0znYzAjDRHH3Prk60DBUz_VJhOt2YoGtYtV71FMVGMNnX-pA9yAnukLnJ0rK_cCjQT2liK1aypTGRN6tdq3lEz4WbEOjz7sNEg6SZrlYSomw11P/w400-h249/1Milei-1.jpg "» To bail out his [Bessent's] dumb friends on Wall Street, that’s banana republic level corruption. «")
Inevitably, haters will say that the polls were rigged which won’t help the government’s legitimacy. Either way, Argentina will remain stuck in a downward spiral. Milei’s reforms have been so staggeringly successful that keeping Argentina’s economy scotched together required repeated massive rescue packages this year.
First, on 11 April 2025, the IMF approved a $20 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) to support Milei’s awesome economic program, strengthen foreign currency reserves, and facilitate the removal of capital controls. The IMF is seldom that generous but it seems that it wasn’t generous enough that time, requiring the Trump administration to step in last month. On 24 September, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced another $20 billion bailout for Argentina.
Under the plan, the US Treasury provided Argentina with US dollars in exchange for Argentine pesos. This raised the awkward question: why did Trump’s MAGA, “America first,” administration put its taxpayers on the hook for Argentina? Bessent said that Argentina was “a systemically important US ally in Latin America,” and that the US “stands ready to do what is needed within its mandate to support Argentina. All options for stabilization are on the table.”
![» To bail out his [Bessent's] dumb friends on Wall Street, that’s banana republic level corruption. «](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-WnpkbAE3Y6rpdWOZIQeJHeRjP9l8UPddS6HBa8_FNI1qlNfd4rvqSNwK6GhT_V4Lqfwxd_xW9g-cD0znYzAjDRHH3Prk60DBUz_VJhOt2YoGtYtV71FMVGMNnX-pA9yAnukLnJ0rK_cCjQT2liK1aypTGRN6tdq3lEz4WbEOjz7sNEg6SZrlYSomw11P/s1802/1Milei-1.jpg "» To bail out his [Bessent's] dumb friends on Wall Street, that’s banana republic level corruption. «")
» To bail out his [Bessent's] dumb friends on Wall Street, that’s banana republic level corruption. «
First, on 11 April 2025, the IMF approved a $20 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) to support Milei’s awesome economic program, strengthen foreign currency reserves, and facilitate the removal of capital controls. The IMF is seldom that generous but it seems that it wasn’t generous enough that time, requiring the Trump administration to step in last month. On 24 September, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced another $20 billion bailout for Argentina.
"El Bobo de Wallstreet"—"The Dumb-Ass of Wall Street".
Under the plan, the US Treasury provided Argentina with US dollars in exchange for Argentine pesos. This raised the awkward question: why did Trump’s MAGA, “America first,” administration put its taxpayers on the hook for Argentina? Bessent said that Argentina was “a systemically important US ally in Latin America,” and that the US “stands ready to do what is needed within its mandate to support Argentina. All options for stabilization are on the table.”
![» [Trump] may have to distance himself from Bessent or even sack him. «](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHkChZx3jtSl4i3lT7Ct-pPWjiXPE2fzu9TDMmG2A3eRdWlefefEAe1snfcZDoZ-olnubkh76uNBRtx-hOTuoct2uD0Mf-vsY9bpc0f2RuKeVfFz1xugQ3bR22B7MZwlCjFr1qTCHdYUcURAmuC0BtqDzPx1S2IonUTMgzSeKQ-J6Bv7Zy3T8ZGY-bXca4/s654/bessentpartnerson-1.png "» [Trump] may have to distance himself from Bessent or even sack him. «")
» [Trump] may have to distance himself from Bessent or even sack him. «
» Either way, Argentina will remain stuck in a downward spiral. «
“All options” being “on the table,” on 15 October, weeks after Bessent announced the $20 billion swap, he said that he was arranging a separate $20 billion facility financed by banks and private equity. But for the deal to stick, it may still have to be backed by the US Treasury. A-gain. And in spite of President Trump himself admitting that the bailout might not work and would provide little benefit to the American people. So again: if this is a burden on the American people with no benefit to them, then why is the MAGA administration doing it? [...] As it happens, Rob Citrone is a personal friend and former colleague of Scott Bessent. Here’s what the “Popular Information” newsletter reported earlier this month:
Major Argentine media outlets are now reporting that Citrone asked Bessent for a United States rescue package. Ariel Maciel, Political Economy Editor at Perfil, a large Argentine media outlet, wrote that after the Buenos Aires elections, Citrone “returned to his friend and former colleague… to request a second bailout, this time from the very coffers Bessent manages: the US Treasury.”
CE Noticias Financieras, a major wire service in Latin America, similarly reported that after Argentine officials ran into resistance with lower-level Trump officials, “Citrone managed to connect with Bessent to get him to intervene directly.” But from there, it gets a bit worse than that still: “Maciel also noted that two weeks before Bessent announced the bailout, Citrone purchased additional bonds for “almost nothing.” Maciel said the timing of Citrone’s recent purchases has raised “suspicions” that Citrone had access to “confidential information.”
If true, these arrangements present horribly bad optics for Donald Trump and his administration. If his Treasury Secretary is using his office and American taxpayers’ money to bail out his dumb friends on Wall Street, that’s banana republic level corruption. Any substance of this story will be milked for all it’s worth - and it could be worth a lot - by his political opponents at home and abroad. It doesn’t even matter whether Trump himself was aware of the nature of the bailouts.
Trump may have bought the ideological and geostrategic story about the chainsaw freedom crusader Milei and Argentina being a systemically important ally. In that case, he may have to distance himself from Bessent or even sack him. But even so, the damage has been done. It is hard to see how this won’t undermine the confidence in his administration and further erode his MAGA-base support. On top of that, corrupt dealings with Argentina and Trump’s aggressive stance toward Venezuela, has worsened his administration’s standing in the region:
Trump may have bought the ideological and geostrategic story about the chainsaw freedom crusader Milei and Argentina being a systemically important ally. In that case, he may have to distance himself from Bessent or even sack him. But even so, the damage has been done. It is hard to see how this won’t undermine the confidence in his administration and further erode his MAGA-base support. On top of that, corrupt dealings with Argentina and Trump’s aggressive stance toward Venezuela, has worsened his administration’s standing in the region:
» Like nobody’s ever seen before. «
The MIGA-MAGA gaga crowds are diminishing, and not only in Argentina.
Even if you bring all your carrier strike groups to the Caribbean Sea and threaten action “like nobody’s ever seen before,” the ultimate struggle is and always will be that for the hearts and minds of the people. That struggle is being lost like nobody’s ever seen before.
