Democrats are using a $20 billion lifeline to Argentina to claim Republicans care more about bailing out foreign governments than helping Americans at home.
The messaging, a riff on President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy agenda, intensified ahead of a White House visit by Argentinian President Javier Milei on Tuesday, where Trump said the United States would “be there” for Argentina, so long as Milei succeeds in midterm elections set to take place later this month.
Democrats have variously framed the bailout as an affront to American farmers, as Argentina sells its soybean crops at “manipulative prices” to China, as well as average voters who fear rising healthcare costs.
The latter argument marks a new wrinkle in a shutdown fight with Republicans as Democrats demand an extension of premium Obamacare subsidies to reopen the government, which shuttered over the demands on Oct. 1.
“If this administration has $20 billion to spare for a MAGA-friendly foreign government, how can they say we don’t have the money to lower healthcare costs?” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on the Senate floor.
TRUMP MAKES ARGENTINE CURRENCY SWAP CONTINGENT ON MILEI WIN
The Democratic talking point, made in the halls of Congress and a Democratic National Committee press call on Tuesday, reflects an attempt to turn Trump’s signature policy doctrine against him.
Trump has used the “America First” mantra to encapsulate his agenda, from a crackdown on illegal immigration to his demands that NATO contribute more to its own self-defense. But the financial assistance for Argentina, structured in the form of a currency swap, has torn at the president’s MAGA support and frustrated business groups that noted Argentina, an agricultural rival, sold shipments of soybeans to China as talk of a bailout became public.
Trump defended the economic package at the White House on Tuesday, arguing that the U.S. benefits from the Milei government staying in power. He represents a libertarian break from the socialist policies of other regional governments and has forged a closer relationship with the White House.
“It’s just helping a great philosophy take over a great country,” Trump told reporters. “We don’t have to do it. It’s not going to make a big difference for our country, but it will in terms of South America.”
Democrats nonetheless see the issue as a liability for Trump, whose strikes on Iran and loose commitment to Ukraine have also rankled supporters.
On Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) attempted to pass a bill, the “No Argentina Bailout Act,” to keep the Treasury Department from performing the currency swap, before her attempt was blocked by Senate Banking Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC).
“It is shameful that President Trump is propping up a foreign government, while he shuts down our own,” Warren said in a floor speech.
The message represents the latest attempt to move Republicans off their shutdown position – a clean funding extension with no policy changes attached. The House passed a bill last month that would keep the government operating through Nov. 21, but it has failed in the Senate eight times as Democrats use the funding cliff as leverage.
TRUMP BLUNTS GOP’S SHUTDOWN LEVERAGE WITH WELFARE AND MILITARY CARVEOUTS
Beyond the shutdown, Democrats have been using Trump’s foreign policy to weaken his standing ahead of the midterm elections next year. His tariffs, in particular, have been wrapped into a broader critique that Republicans will send prices higher for consumers.
Trump and congressional Republicans made the same case successfully in November, when Democrats were swept out of power in the face of decades-high inflation.