114 Comments
User's avatar
Peter's avatar

So, how obvious is it that Citrone was tipped off to the coming bailout? Buying more Argentine bonds in the face of a failing economy obvious. He knew the bailout was coming and cashed in. One more MAGA criminal who needs to face consequences when the Trump Reign of Error comes to an end.

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William Errens's avatar

An even more important question is how much Citrone, directly or indirectly, paid to Trump, directly or by buying his crypto coins. I doubt he made that investment in the Argentinian economy without a clear plan on how he could turn that investment quickly into a major win for his investment fund.

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Penny Barrons's avatar

What a bunch of crooks

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Allison's avatar

Doesn't Congress have to approve this? The corruption with Trump and his cronies is just overwhelming.

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River girl's avatar

My question as well? Anyone understand how this expenditure works? Also the democrats should be screaming about this

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Ann's avatar

YES! I keep repeating this over and over!!! Has anyone in the party been talking about it? I'm meaning more than a few who may be 'showing concern'! It's no damn wonder we are in the shape we're in right now. Seriously where is someone capable of actual leadership in the Democrat party? Playing a great game of hide and seek I guess because I sure can't see them!

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Merc's avatar

democrats suck at communication - this should be a rhyme, a musical, a headline repeated OVER AND OVER AND OVER as Americans lose their jobs - but they are talking about nebulous medicaid cuts - political INCOMPETENCE - this should write itself

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Michel de Cryptadamus's avatar

small picture: not in this case, because the Exchange Stabilisation Fund was set up by law a long time ago and the treasury secretary has broad discretion on how to deploy it.

big picture: congress doesn't control government finances any more. SCOTUS just gave trump a line item veto over the budget a few days ago so he can kind of do whatever he wants.

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River girl's avatar

Thank you this is helpful.

Just another example of something set up when folks had some moral touchstone and now is ripe for perversion by grifters.

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Michel de Cryptadamus's avatar

it might be a crypto bailout, meaning it might be even worse than it looks in Judd's article.

https://cryptadamus.substack.com/p/make-argentina-gold-again

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Merc's avatar

wow - so in elected a felon we handed control of our entire budget yo a self-dealing embezzler - i hate the MAGA TRASH who did this to our nation on the eve of its 250th Anniversary

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Sally Stevens's avatar

That's my question too! How can Trump do all this questionable stuff by himself??? He's doing it in SO many directions, on a daily basis.

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colo-ski's avatar

Oh that's authoritarianism

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colo-ski's avatar

I would think normally yes but he hasn't used Congress since he's been elected so that's pointless to even think about that

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Frau Katze's avatar

Just for Big Ugly Bill.

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Ole Anderson's avatar

Trump is ‘flooding the zone’ with corrupt acts so that most will slip by unnoticed. So far it’s working well for him

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MJ's avatar

Wow the lot of the article writing and stupid comment display total ignorance of the Political ELECTION DRAMA that got Javier ELECTED in the first place...

Argentina was ordered by their SUPREME COURT to DITCH THE VOTING MACHINES [from Maduro] and do paper ballots !!

Otherwise CCP and VENEZUELA would have MADE ARGENTINA go full COMMUNIST LIKE BRAZIL in spite of Brazil's nationalist populist [Bolsonaro] being WILDLY POPULAR --- "somehow" the machine counts went the opposite of the crowds...

WAKE UP... we're at war with VENEZUELA over the INNARDS OF AMERICAN VOTING MACHINES being exactly what CHAVEZ and MADURO ordered them built to do --STEAL ELECTIONS...

Steal elections in Venezuela AND in other countries LIKE HERE.......

There are DEPOSITIONS of two Venezuelans -- one an insider in Chavez cabinet who watched Chavez use the SMARTMATICs to KEEP HIM IN POWER...

The other Venezuelan was a TECH guy who demonstrated that THESE VOTING MACHINES are made to be accessed REMOTELY EVEN WHEN SUPPOSEDLY TOTALLY OFFLINE... it's called the ''machine-in-the-middle'' technology...

The Phillipines are the first now to sue, but first for bribery etc but stuff comes out... Pam Bondi is over her head in law suits and investigations but it's on the agenda....

TTYL... and yes Argentina's record on debt payback was pre Javier....

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Jim Carmichael's avatar

Another knockout report, Judd & Co. It makes me wonder who will be left to bail out U. S. when the day comes.

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Katy Bolger's avatar

In the scratch my back and I will give you a billion dollars category, these guys take the prize for sharp nails. If this shenanigans was helping Americans I would say okay, but where does this investment, especially the U.S. government's investment of billions of dollars, support Americans? If the money was to pay for maternal health, vaccines for babies, medicine for the sick and doctor's pay in rural hospitals, I would say what great philanthropists (or even what a great government we have in the US to AID poor people). But this money goes into the pockets of oligarchs, no matter whose pocket it comes out of. Twenty billion to help the Argentine economy? Really? Show me the receipts. And, as an aside, wasn't Argentina the soft landing place for war weary, singed knuckles Nazis in 1945? After five years of exterminating the Jews? And destroying Europe? Just saying.

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mark's avatar

US bailout of Argentina will allow them to export more soybeans. (Argentina dropped the export tax on soybeans and china bought a large amount which replaced US sales).

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Katy Bolger's avatar

Just read about this. We are competing with Argentina to sell soybeans to China. China stopped buying our soybeans because of tariffs and instead bought Argentina's soybeans. Argentina made it even more attractive to buy their soybeans by dropping a tax. Is that right? We are bailing out a country that is in direct competition without own farmers and who are hurting because of previous economic decisions made by this government? That is fn crazy or is it me?

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mark's avatar
Sep 29Edited

Argentina dropped the export tax from around 25% to zero until October 31. This is intended to coincide with the US harvest as a way to capture the Chinese market. The US government will give the US farmers some cash this year, but the lost market will persist for years.

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Elisabeth Shaddock's avatar

The tax exemption only lasted 3 days. The exemption was until October 31 or until 7 billion dollars of soy was sold, whichever came first. Seven billion dollars of soy was sold in 3 days, so the exemption ended. That tax exemption for 3 days mostly benefited the large cereal export companies, not everyday farmers in Argentina. Here in Argentina, it is seen as another huge fraud.

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mark's avatar

Thanks for an update. The fact that the Argentinian farmers won't benefit from the sale is similar to here in the US where the cash payments to "farmers" will be too little and too late to stop the large number of farmers going bankrupt. The land will be farmed, but it will be farmed by large corporate farms.

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Sun's avatar

If it goes forward it will come out of your pocket and mine.

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Ted Sharp's avatar

Yep. Bailing out the farmers because of trump’s business acumen, again. Last time it was a 28 billion dollar taxpayer funded bailout.

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Frau Katze's avatar

He’s bailing out soybean farmers in the billions because they lost their market in China thanks to Trump’s tariffs.

China is now buying from Brazil and, oddly enough, Argentina!

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Mary Harrison's avatar

Ethics in the Rein of Trump are non-existent. When will they be held accountable?

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Claudia A's avatar

Mike Johnson will never ever take Trump to impeachment court

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Mary Harrison's avatar

I grew up 40 minutes from MJ and I don’t understand how his constituents agree with him.

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Hannah's avatar

What does geography have to do with it?

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Kate's avatar

Reign of Trump—but he needs to be reined in!

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Joseph Mangano's avatar

In decades past, this would be a major scandal for an American president. Now, with the endlessly corrupt Donald Trump? Water off a duck's back.

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Frau Katze's avatar

It’s barely been covered amid the torrent of other outrages. Flood the zone!

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AVee. (Alexia)'s avatar

The Quid Pro Quo of this Regime gallops along in plain sight. Ethics ignored.

Excerpt:⬇️

“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—“

Oh there’s more much more in the article.

😵‍💫

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Teresa Baustian's avatar

It looks as though “America First” is actually “Oligarchs First.”

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Sandra Tuttle's avatar

FFS. It doesnt get any more blatant, Bessent! 20$ MORE of our hard earned tax dollars down the drain into friends wallet.

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Sheila's avatar

Corrupt to the core and in every aspect of so-called Government because this isn’t Government, it’s exploitation on an endemic scale of the American tax payers.

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Martin Hayes's avatar

This is the type of Foreign Aid that needs to be cut. Throwing good money after bad is a loser. America first my a$$

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Joseph McPhillips's avatar

Another day in the presidency of a depraved narcissist, convicted fraudster, rapist & extortionist extraordinaire...#Resist & #Vote Blue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IcXgHUA8Ws

Trump’s second term has basically been defined by the magnitude of extortion & other corruption that can be brought to bear by a president who has no qualms about abusing his power.

Corruption is such a defining Trump trait.

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Bill Gibbard's avatar

Corruption with a CAPITAL C!

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Tai's avatar

Sending bailout money to Argentina while cutting ACA subsidies, Medicaid and SNAP, plus massive firing American workers in the federal government, and this is making America great again. Got it.

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Frau Katze's avatar

America First at its finest /s

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George Ostrander's avatar

Washington Post and New York Times and Financial Times , etc are you reading this ? Please do the job of journalism.

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Debra M.'s avatar

Excellent reporting in pulling all the grifting threads together - thank you.

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