Milei’s Market Dream Collapses — and Trump’s Wall Street Allies Rush to the Rescue

When Argentina elected far-right libertarian Javier Milei, conservative think tanks and free-market diehards around the world cheered. He was supposed to be the living proof that deregulation, austerity, and privatization could still save a broken economy — a test case for what libertarians and “anti-woke” conservatives insist would happen if they were ever truly in charge.

But the experiment is already falling apart. And now, the same billionaires who hailed Milei as a prophet of economic purity are quietly working with Donald Trump to bail him out — to the tune of tens of billions of U.S. dollars.

The Libertarian Fantasy Meets Economic Reality

Milei entered office in late 2023 with a promise to obliterate Argentina’s bloated state: shutter ministries, slash social programs, and dollarize the economy. His coalition, La Libertad Avanza, blended libertarian economics with hard-right social conservatism — privatize everything, then preach “family values” and “freedom” while gutting worker protections.

He called it liberation. Ordinary Argentines call it chaos.

Inflation remains astronomical (hovering near 100 percent), unemployment is rising, and manufacturing is collapsing under import shocks and deregulation. Entire sectors are shutting down — Reuters reports factories closing by the week as local industries drown in Milei’s “free-market flood.” Meanwhile, poverty and hunger are spiking across the country.

Enter Trump and the Billionaire Lifeline

In a move that shocked economists and enraged Congress, the Trump administration announced a $20 billion bailout for Milei — direct support from the U.S. Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund, one of the few financial tools that can be deployed without congressional approval.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent framed it as “support for a democratic ally.” But Bessent’s long-time friend and billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller has already admitted to investing heavily in Argentina after Milei’s election.

Now, major U.S. banks and hedge funds are reportedly working with the Treasury to double that package to $40 billion — a “rescue fund” that conveniently stabilizes not just Argentina, but also the portfolios of Wall Street speculators who bet big on Milei’s miracle.

As Representative Nydia Velázquez demanded in a statement last week:

“Why are American taxpayers backing a bailout for Argentina’s libertarian experiment while our own citizens face cuts to healthcare and housing?”

It’s a fair question — and one the White House has yet to answer.

Why the U.S. Is Suddenly So Interested in Argentina

For Trump, the Milei rescue isn’t about charity or democracy. It’s about ideology, optics, and leverage.

First, it props up a fellow right-wing populist who mirrors Trump’s anti-bureaucratic, anti-“globalist” branding. Second, it keeps Argentina aligned with the U.S. and out of China’s financial orbit. Third — and maybe most important — it keeps alive the illusion that libertarian shock therapy can work if only it’s given enough cash.

But here’s the catch: the bailout itself obliterates the libertarian myth. “Free markets” aren’t free when they’re propped up by $40 billion in U.S. backing. This is neoliberal cosplay subsidized by public funds.

Corporate Welfare for the Wealthy, Austerity for the Poor

While Trump’s team cuts domestic spending and preaches fiscal responsibility, they’re wiring billions to rescue an ideological cousin abroad. It’s the same story every time: privatize profits, socialize losses.

Argentina’s usable reserves are down to roughly $10 billion, and the peso keeps sliding despite U.S. intervention. The country’s poorest citizens face a double squeeze — from rising prices and collapsing wages — while U.S. hedge funds position themselves to profit off privatizations and deregulated energy and mining sectors.

If this sounds familiar, it’s because it is. The “free-market revolution” always ends the same way: Wall Street wins, and working people pay the price.

The Global Experiment in Reverse Robin Hood Economics

The Trump-Milei alliance is being hailed in conservative media as proof of “global freedom cooperation.” But in reality, it’s a case study in Reverse Robin Hood economics — rob from the public to save the private.

When the libertarian dream crashes into the brick wall of real-world inequality, the bailout always comes. Not for the hungry. Not for the workers. For the investors.

What Happens Next

If Milei survives politically, the bailout may buy him time — but at enormous cost to sovereignty and the credibility of libertarian dogma. If he fails, the U.S. and its financiers could eat billions in losses. Either way, it exposes a simple truth: the “small government” crowd only believes in free markets until their friends start losing money.

In that sense, Argentina has already taught the world its lesson.