Supporting Javier Milei's austerity regime shows that Trump's true loyalty is to the neocolonial plutocracy.
US President Donald Trump greets Argentine President Javier Milley upon his arrival at the West Wing of the White House on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.
(Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Donald Trump loves trashy musicals, a fact that can be heard in the show tunes that decorate his rallies. He has special passion for Andrew Lloyd Webber Evita (1978), a wide-ranging look at the life of Argentina's controversial populist leader Evita Perón. In his book Trump: think like a billionaire (2004), the President is calling Evita “my favorite Broadway show” and says he watched it six times in its original release.
Signature song Evita this is, of course, “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina.” Trump probably knows his words backwards. So it's odd but predictable that he doesn't seem to understand what they mean, given that he's sending billions of dollars to help Argentina's flagging economy while insisting on belt-tightening during a government shutdown at home. In fact, one might be tempted to ask, “Why does Trump only cry for Argentina?
Argentine far-right President Javier Miley is a self-proclaimed anarcho-capitalist and a fan of the radical laissez-faire policies of the Austrian school of economics. But his attempt to implement these destructive ideas plunged Argentina into chaos. While the no-holds-barred austerity policies may appeal to international investors, they have sparked anger among ordinary Argentines, which could show up in the polls for national midterm elections on Sunday. To dispel the anger of Argentine voters, Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took extraordinary steps to stabilize the country's currency, the peso. Using the Exchange Rate Stabilization Fund, which is designed for emergencies, Bessent opened a $20 billion line of credit to the Argentine government. He is working to secure another $20 billion in loans for Argentina from banks and investment funds.
In addition, Trump's trade agreements have turned out to be a boon for the Argentine agriculture in various areas. How Washington Post reported on Thursday
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Earlier this spring, Trump's tariffs on China prompted the country to stop buying U.S. soybeans. He then offered $20 billion in aid to Argentina, whose sales of soybean crops to China had replaced those of American farmers. And this week, Trump announced that the United States would buy beef from Argentina to lower prices for American consumers, opening a rift between him and another bloc of rural supporters: ranchers, whose top industry group repudiated the president on Wednesday, while some Republican officials struggled to talk Trump out of the plan.
The aid has alienated some Trump supporters and made him an easy target for his opponents. Christian Lovell, Illinois farmer and senior director of Farm Action programs, said CNN: “If Trump follows through with what he's set out to do, I really think it's a betrayal of the American rancher. It feels like you're selling us out to a foreign competitor.” Trump responded to these complaints with a Truth Social post. speaking that the “Cattlemen I Love” should be grateful for all he did for them.
In private, things aren't much better, with GOP lawmakers reportedly trying to get Trump to change course. The one exception to this approach of quiet diplomacy is Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who is not known for her tact. Appearing on Tucker Carlson's online show Wednesday, Green described helping Argentina as “one of the rudest things I've ever seen.” She added: “I have no idea who's telling our great president, our America First president, that this is a good idea. Because frankly, it's a gut punch to all of our American cattle ranchers, and they're furious, and rightfully so… I don't know what America First sounds like.”
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, although Greene's ideological opposite, has raised a similar objection. Referring to the bailout for Argentina, Sanders asked“What happened to America First?”
It is tempting to describe Trump as abandoning America first in favor of Argentina first. But it would be more accurate to say that his concern for Miley reveals the true nature of the America First agenda, which is less about strengthening the United States and more about strengthening the power of Trump's investment class allies by propping up plutocratic-friendly regimes.
As a columnist Ishaan Tharoor notes V Washington PostTrump's decision to back Miley is consistent with his previous interventions in elections abroad to deal with right-wing populists, most notably in Hungary in 2022 and Poland earlier this year. Additionally, part of Trump's “America First” credo is that the United States needs to focus more on the Western Hemisphere rather than wars in Europe or the Middle East. Trump's actions in Argentina are consistent with his other steps to intensify intervention in Latin America, in particular the current push for war in Venezuela.
When Miley visited the White House on October 14, Trump explained his actions are motivated by ideological affinity: “It's just helping a great philosophy take over a great country. Argentina is one of the most beautiful countries I've ever seen, and we want it to succeed. It's very simple.” Even more clearly Bessent praised Argentina as a “beacon” that, if successful, will push other Latin American countries to the right.
Trump is not providing aid to Argentina; he saves Miley. Or, to be even more precise, it is saving international investors who want a return on their bets on Argentina. In addition to the line of credit established by the United States, Argentina world's largest debtor to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which recently borrowed $20 billion on top of its existing debt of $43 billion. Like the Trump administration, the IMF is enthusiastic about Mili's austerity program. Under Milei, Argentina, according to economist Delfina Rossi, indicated V JacobinRussia has fallen into a classic debt trap, where payments to foreign creditors set a hard ceiling on social spending.
A conversation with John Cassidy about New YorkerMaurice Obstfeld, former chief economist of the IMF, asserts“What's troubling here is that Bessent repeatedly says we'll be there for the long haul and we'll do our best. He's essentially telling foreign investors, 'You'll get out in one piece.'”
There is a strong conflict of interest in this situation, since Bessent has many long-standing connections to international finance. Bessent's promise to pay off the Miley government's debts is welcome news, Cassidy notes:
for American hedge funds investing in Argentine assets. One such fund is Discovery Capital Management, founded by investor Robert Citron. Late last month, journalist Judd Legum indicated that Citron is Bessent's former colleague from 2013, when they both worked for George Soros. Subsequently, The Times reported that Citron “was in close contact with Mr Bessent in the lead-up to the Treasury announcement last month”.
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Trump's bailout of Argentina fits into a broader pattern of corrupt administration that has characterized his administration. This is consistent with the dubious business connections his family members have established. Arab autocracies and dubious crypto firms such as Biance (whose founder Changpeng Zhao was pardoned by Trump on Thursday on charges of money laundering). There is no “America First” or “Argentina First” policy—just Trump First.
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