How does Argentina bail out benefit Trump?

[SARose]

Did a little digging and my, my, my

Trump’s Argentina Bailout Enriches One Well-Connected US Billionaire
September 29, 2025

A $20 billion US rescue package is a gift for a hedge fund manager with ties to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

JUDD LEGUM

Last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a $20 billion package to rescue the Argentinian economy. The risky taxpayer-financed deal, which involves trading US dollars for Argentine pesos, has little upside for ordinary Americans. Argentina is not a significant US trading partner, and its economy, long in turmoil, has little impact on the United States.

However, Bessent’s announcement had massive economic benefits for one American: billionaire hedge fund manager Rob Citrone, who has placed large bets on the future of the Argentine economy. Citrone, the co-founder of Discovery Capital Management, is also a friend and former colleague of Bessent—a fact that has not been previously reported in US media outlets. Citrone, by his own account, helped make Bessent very wealthy.

Since Javier Milei, a right-wing populist, became president of Argentina in December 2023, Citrone has invested heavily in Argentina. Citrone has bought Argentine debt and purchased equity in numerous Argentine companies that are closely tied to the performance of the overall economy. Due to Argentina’s massive debt load and chaotic economic history—in 2023, Argentina’s inflation rate was over 200 percent—Citrone purchased Argentine bonds with an interest rate of nearly 20 percent. (Citrone has declined to detail exactly “how much of the $2.8 billion he manages is invested” in Argentina.)

Citrone, who is also a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, is effectively betting on Milei’s right-wing economic program, which emphasizes deregulation and sharply reduced government spending. Citrone viewed “the probability of default as minuscule,” even though Argentina has defaulted on its debts many times in the past. (Emphasis mine.)

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See the article both Bessent and Citrine worked for - wait for it -

George Soros!

You got to be kidding me!😬

[Happy Hoosier]

1. If Argentina fails....

.... it will give the MAGA movement a black eye. Milei has tied himself closely to Trump, even branding himself as "Argentina's Trump." If he fails, that's Trump's failure.

[peppertree]

8. And for them, "failure" would be a loss for Milei's neo-fascist 'Freedumb Forward' (LLA) - nothing else matters

Which is what's so absurd about all this: Milei and his narco-party are doomed already!

Besides the rotten economy and his sister's corruption, they've got two verified narco-congresscritters: José Luis Espert - the (just ousted) Chairman of the House Budget Committee (!);

and Lorena Villaverde - who was deported from the U.S. in 2003 after being caught delivering 15 kilos of cocaine in Flawrida (of course).

In other words, she was a drug mule - and she's the LLA candidate for Senator in one of Patagonian provinces.

And the coalition's "more professional" junior partners? (Trump pal Macri's PRO - a neo-con favorite):

Their former mayor of Paraná (Argentina's 18th largest city), Sergio Varisco, was convicted as mayor of drug trafficking - and they still nominated him for re-election in 2019 (he lost, and then died - conveniently for Macri).

At least 40 known drug money-laundering accounts were opened during Macri's calamitous 2015-19 rule by the notorious "Monos" gang - which was colluding with Macri's boozing Security Minister (and CIA favorite) Patricia Bullrich to try to frame a governor who had turned against them.

She then received a US$215 million campaign contribution (illegally, and more than all other parties combined) from a known narco-front - funded by the same one who bankrolled Espert!

Bullrich now has the same post under Milei.

You have to remember that, while in Mexico or Colombia all this might be business as usual - they're shocking news in Argentina.

But then - when Milei claimed to be an "anarcho-capitalist," he clearly meant narco-capitalist.

[usonian]

2. Retirement home.

Did it work for his hero?



ARGENTINA! RELEASE THE HITLER FILES
(Just kidding, I HOPE)

[peppertree]

9. Ach - das ist abandoned! Trump will probably opt for something close to his old pal Macri's 'Los Abrojos' estate

Then again - not enough gold filigree.

[usonian]

12. He knows where to get plenty from his "plenary" supply.

[peppertree]

13. You're not kidding. Remember when Glenn Beck convinced his dolts that "Kennedy had stolen the gold from Fort Knox"?

Wrong president - Gravy Glenn.

[maxrandb]

3. Follow the money!

Confirmed investments

Starlink: The satellite internet service, operated by Musk's company SpaceX, launched in Argentina in March 2024. It provides high-speed internet, especially for rural areas and regions with poor connectivity.

Potential areas of investment
Lithium for Tesla: Musk and Milei have discussed lithium investment opportunities for Tesla.

Argentina holds the world's third-largest lithium reserves, making it an attractive prospect for a company that manufactures electric vehicles.

SpaceX and tech projects: In September 2024, Musk posted on X that his companies were "actively looking for ways to invest in and support Argentina." This indicates that potential investments may extend beyond Tesla to include SpaceX or other ventures like xAI.

[Prairie Gates]

4. No, this is oversimplified

There's no doubt that it advantages this one guy, and that this guy is a Trump ally. Fine. But that's too narrow.

The bailout pays back Wall Street banks, private lenders, and bondholders. ALL these people own Trump, not just one guy. Trump is a tool of the investor class and the billionaires, not just one guy.

Furthermore, Trumpism is committed to evangelizing itself globally, and Milei is a MAGA ally. They are trying to have their people in place everywhere, but especially in Latin America because...

Trump also wants to go to war with Venezuela (and probably Cuba). He needs committed MAGAs like Milei at Latin American diplomatic gatherings to push war with Venezuela and to support the war logistically and diplomatically once it kicks off.

[SARose]

5. Well done!

I’m not sure how South American countries will react should Trump bomb Venezuela or for that matter assassinate Maduro.

If Milei loses

Yet for all the international praise, this is just one side of the story. On the streets there have been heated protests over Milei's reforms, with police firing tear gas, rubber bullets and a water cannon during clashes.

"He said in his campaign that this adjustment would be paid for by 'la casta' – the wealthy, the politicians, the evil businessmen," says Mercedes D'Alessandro, a left-wing economist and senate candidate.
But, she argues, the result was less money for pensioners and hospitals. "The adjustment in the end was directed at the working classes, not the caste."

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Chavez won by promising land reform for the masses. He did that. He also brought in Cuban doctors for regional clinics. Maduro, on the other hand, has literally starved his people.

Trump is transactional in his dealings with people. Giving away the farm to energy CEOs and hedge fund managers just might get his companies out of their credit squeeze. Dunno but I believe Trump never does anything that doesn’t benefit him.

Thanks for your insight!

[peppertree]

10. Milei and other neo-con puppets like Ecuador's (fraudulently-elected) Noboa will applaud

And the rest will condemn it in OAS meetings - but utterly in vain.

That's why Cheeto considers Venezuela low-hanging fruit - like Old Man Bush considered Panama in '89.

But like Bush, it won't do Cheeto any political good at all - because the kind of Hispanic voters that would applaud such an atrocity, would vote for him anyway.

Apparently - they never got the memo as to what, exactly, Trump and most of his Trumpkins think about Hispanics.

(as I told one once: "Remember Pacino in Scarface? Something like that" )

[Aristus]

6. If Trump truly knew how to benefit himself,

he would have taken his 400 million-dollar inheritance, invested it, and spent the rest of his life under a palm tree in the Bahamas.

[UTUSN]

7. K&R

[MineralMan]

11. Maybe He Finally Gets a Chance with Evita?

[peppertree]

14. I tell you, though - Evita rolls in her grave every time these right-wing pro-offshoring types take office

Trump and Milei both are everything she detested: elitist, misogynistic, racist, reactionary - and given to colluding with billionaires to hollow out their own countries.

She had her flaws - but she saw certain things very clearly.

[lame54]

15. He's buying on the cheap

[Blue Full Moon]

16. Nazi and don't do extradition. Perfect for his prisons

[allegorical oracle]

17. Trump construction with kickbacks. Like djt said yesterday regarding the East Wing:

"When I hear (construction noise)...I smell money."