Trump: Argentina is fighting for its life, they need our help. Also Trump: Help to Argentina only if Millei's party wins

[ck4829]

President Trump late Sunday defended Argentina as his administration is looking to secure $40 billion in financial assistance for the country.

“Argentina’s fighting for its life, young lady, you don’t know anything about it,” Trump told a reporter on Air Force One in response to a question. “They’re fighting for their life. Nothing’s benefiting Argentina.”

“They’re fighting for their life. You understand what that means? They have no money, they have no anything. They’re fighting so hard to survive. If I can help them survive in a free world — I happen to like the president of Argentina, I think he’s trying to do the best he can. But don’t make it sound like they’re doing great.”

Trump’s administration is seeking to secure a total of $40 billion in financial assistance for Argentina to assist the country’s libertarian leader in stabilizing its turbulent financial markets.

https://thehill.com/business/5563269-donald-trump-defends-argentina-aid/

President Donald Trump has acknowledged that a $20bn (£15bn) US lifeline to help calm Argentina's currency crisis is an attempt to sway legislative elections this month in the South American nation.

Welcoming Argentina's libertarian leader Javier Milei to the White House, Trump warned that the US would not "waste our time" with helping Argentina if Milei's party did not prevail.

Argentina's financial turmoil comes ahead of national midterm elections on 26 October, seen as a test of voters' desire to continue backing Milei's cost-cutting, free-market reform agenda.

Trump added: "Victory (for Milei) is very important. Your poll numbers I hear are pretty good. I think they will be better after this. "And, you know, our approvals are somewhat subject to who wins the election."

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg7n82gd7pvo

[intrepidity]

1. Saying the secret stuff out loud, as usual. nt

[ck4829]

2. Yup

[peppertree]

3. And the extortion worked

Argentines tend to be - largely due to their own crisis-wracked history - panicky.

"I have a friend who moved to Spain - and they won't give her a driver's license," the late Argentine comedian Enrique Pinti once noted. "The road test administrator said to her: You have the reflexes of a spastic!"

Bessent and the other Trump cronies who arranged all this, were no doubt instructed by Milei's goons about that very weakness among Argentines: a PTSD-like fear of losing their savings.

And milk it they did.

It's no secret down there that the 6-point deficit for Milei's LLAcoalition in election-eve polls, was turned around overnight into a 6-point victory thanks mostly to that very fear: that Trump would bark an order to Bessent to "dump those pesos!" if LLA had lost.

Some $2 billion worth of Argentine pesos were bought by the U.S. Treasury to prop up Milei. If they were sold overnight - combined with panic-selling in Argentina itself - it would create a 2001-style crash and collapse.

Argentina's mostly working-class voters knew that - and voted like hostages with a gun held to their heads.

Which is exactly how Needy Amin wants everyone.