Senator Elizabeth Warren Comments on Argentina Bailout

Senator Elizabeth Warren Comments on Argentina Bailout

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Summary

Americans are facing rising prices and a struggling job market, while Donald Trump is prioritizing a $40 billion bailout for Argentina amid a government shutdown. This funding is intended to support Argentina’s economy, benefiting Wall Street hedge funds linked to Trump’s administration, rather than addressing urgent domestic issues like skyrocketing healthcare costs. American farmers, especially soybean producers, are outraged as they lose their market to Argentina due to Trump’s tariffs. Despite the pressing needs of American families, including healthcare support, the Trump administration focuses on aiding foreign interests, prompting criticism and legislative efforts to block the bailout.

Transcript

If you’re living in America, you know that prices are up. The job market is bad and a lot of people are struggling. And now, Donald Trump is trying to jumpstart the economy.

Oh, not the U.S. economy, the economy in Argentina. Yeah, you heard that right. The U.S. government is shut down.

Air traffic controllers aren’t getting paid. Americans are getting letters in the mail that their health care premiums are doubling and tripling. But one of the functions of government that Trump has left open is the office that signs a multi-billion dollar check to Argentina.

It’s like that Oprah video. You know, if you’re the president of Argentina, you get 40 billion dollars. If you’re Jeff Bezos, you get a billion dollars in tax breaks.

But if you’re an American who’s feeling the squeeze, sorry, nothing for you. And who’s getting screwed the most from this deal? It’s actually American farmers, the very people Trump claims he supports. So I get up one morning, I turn the news on, and you give 20 billion dollars of taxpayer money to my competition.

The bailout is actually now up to 40 billion dollars. So what’s going on here? Why is Trump giving 40 billion dollars to Argentina? Why are farmers so upset about this? And why isn’t this 40 billion dollars going to Americans? Well, there are a lot of layers here, so let me just lay out the facts. The president of Argentina, Javier Millet, is facing a big midterm election next week, and his party may have a poor showing, which would make it harder for Millet to continue to run the country.

Why so much trouble for Millet? Well, he’s been caught in a round of really gross corruption scandals. Plus, Millet’s policies are not good, and they are downright sinking the Argentine economy. But Millet has a not-so-secret plan to save himself.

He has sucked up to Donald Trump big time. He referred to Trump’s election as the result of the forces of heaven, and he styled his presidency in Argentina as Make Argentina Great Again, MAGA 2.0. Trump has called Millet his favorite president. I know, a little weird.

So Millet is in trouble, and he calls Trump for a lifeline. We’re buddies, so please toss me 40 billion dollars to jumpstart my economy before the election. So Donald Trump says, all right, money’s on the way, but only if my guy wins.

But there’s another layer here. Trump isn’t just handing them 40 billion dollars because he likes the guy who’s sucking up to him, although I have to say, I wouldn’t put it past him to do that. Understand where that 40 billion dollars is going.

It’s Wall Street hedge fund millionaires who are dear friends of Scott Besant, Trump’s secretary of the treasury, who are the guys who will make out like bandits. Now, how does that work? Well, a couple of years ago, a bunch of hedge fund guys poured money into Argentina, and now that Argentina’s economy is not looking so good, thanks Millet, they are on a sinking ship. So the 40 billion dollars the U.S. is shoveling into Argentina will increase the value of those hedge fund investments and provide those hedge fund guys with an off-ramp to sell those investments without suffering serious losses.

Okay, so where do the farmers come into all of this? Well, soybean farmers here in America have one big customer, China. They’ve been selling their soybeans to China for years. When Trump started his chaotic tariffs last spring, China started looking for another country to buy soybeans from.

And who offered to cut China a great deal and kneecap American farmers? You guessed it, Argentina. American farmers’ biggest market is gone. So if you’re a farmer, you’re pretty angry that you just lost your business to Argentina.

Then how do you think you’d feel if you turn on the TV and see that your president just gave Argentina 40 billion dollars? Soybeans are the largest ag product that is exported from the United States, so this is a big deal. Biggest customer of our biggest ag product. Wow.

So let’s lay out all the pieces again. The American economy is in trouble. Trump’s tariff policies are driving up prices.

And instead of turning to the problems here at home, the Trump administration is saying, who cares? It’s fine with us so long as my friend in Argentina and my Wall Street buddies are happy and rich. So now the U.S. is bending over backwards to dig up 40 billion dollars for Argentina when there is no money to help the people here in the United States afford their health insurance. No money to spend for people who are about to lose their nursing home coverage.

No money to spend for people with disabilities who are about to lose their home health aids and their wheelchairs. And here’s a kicker. We’re in a government shutdown right now because Republicans are refusing to lower the cost of health care for Americans.

Guess how much it would cost to extend the ACA’s support for one year? About 24 billion dollars. So think about that. There’s 40 billion dollars for Argentina and no money to help American families pay for health care.

That’s just plain wrong. Look, I am not someone who complains and then does nothing about it. I put out a bill called the No Argentina Bailout Act that’s really pretty simple.

It says Donald Trump can’t just hand that money over to Argentina all on his own. I went down to the Senate floor to force a vote and the Republicans blocked it. But understand this.

I’m not done pushing for it. Look, that’s just my two cents. And oh yeah, remember Trump’s promise to lower costs for Americans? Well instead, Trump is bailing out Argentina.