Is this the part where I'm supposed to say "This is what I voted for"?
Here was Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday:
Milei has certainly turned Argentina around (this headline from Wednesday):
But now we're going to send them financial aid because, as Bessent says, the Argentine market is "looking in the rearview mirror."
Take a look at the Argentine markets (Milei took office in December 2023 which I marked on the graph):
As you can see, the markets have been dropping almost the entire year.
Some much-needed context here: Argentina has midterms coming up at the end of October, which will see half of the lower chamber's seats up for election, along with a third of the Senate's, so a bailout would be pretty clutch for Milei, a libertarian, right about now.
Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa is not pleased with these bailout talks:
He's talking about China importing soybeans from Argentina in the wake of American tariffs (don't worry, farmers, your bailout is apparently coming soon).
And here's a real quote:
'This is a huge American First project,' said Barry Bennett, a former Trump campaign adviser whose lobbying firm does work in Argentina. 'We need lithium, uranium, and they've got energy to boot. American companies are going to do extremely well in Argentina.'
'If the US is serious about countering China, this is exactly the way to do it' Bennett said. 'Use the markets, use our tools, use our expertise, and we just forced China out of the country.'
I'll let you all debate this one in the comments!
P.S. Now check out our latest video, featuring Kirk Cameron 👇
