UPDATE: Treasury Secretary pressed to justify Argentina bailout that benefits “wealthy American” investors

On Monday, Popular Information revealed that the Trump administration’s $20 billion bailout package for Argentina directly benefited Rob Citrone, a well-connected hedge fund billionaire. Citrone is a longtime friend of a former colleague of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who announced the package. (According to Citrone, he helped Bessent become wealthy when the two worked together for George Soros.) Citrone’s hedge fund, Discovery Capital, has invested heavily in Argentina since the election of President Javier Milei, a right-wing ideologue.

On Thursday, Bessent appeared on CNBC and was asked by CNBC Joe Kernen to “justify” the package. “It looks like… wealthy Americans have interests down there and the president is helping them,” Kernen said.

“This trope that we are helping Americans with interests down there couldn’t be more false,” Bessent responded.

But it is objectively true that the $20 billion taxpayer-funded bailout benefits Citrone. His hedge fund, Discovery Capital, invested in Argentine bonds with high interest rates. Without a U.S. rescue package, those bonds would be much more likely to default. Citrone also has stakes in numerous Argentine companies whose performance is tied to the broader economy.

Argentine media reported that Citrone himself intervened to request the bailout package from Bessent.

Bessent argued that the bailout was in the “strategic interest” of the U.S. But even Bessent did not try to argue that the economy of Argentina has any meaningful impact on the U.S. economy. Instead, Bessent argued that the country functioned as a “beacon” of right-wing economics for other Latin American countries, and the U.S. should not let it become a “failed state.” This raises the question: if Milei’s economic policies are so effective, Argentina needs a bailout?