While hundreds of thousands of American service members brace for missed paychecks, Donald Trump just handed $20 billion to Argentina during a government shutdown. And to top it off, his wealthy billionaire cronies are set to make a bundle off the investment.
While Trump is rushing to give billions away to a foreign entity, he’s in no hurry to help soldiers. Late Friday, The Trump administration temporarily ruled out pursuing a short-term legislative measure to guarantee pay for military members at risk of missing paychecks next week, opting instead to consider other possible solutions.
Pay will be frozen soon for the troops and is now frozen for most federal workers. And on Friday, Trump began laying off government workers. The White House Office of Management and Budget told NBC News the layoffs would be “substantial.”
Trump’s Treasury is wiring billions abroad, which amounts to a foreign bailout for bankers and investors, not soldiers and citizens. It just proves what’s really important to Trump and his administration: to hell with the poor, and let’s line the pockets of the rich.
Related: Bishop William Barber: Ignoring the poor means ignoring the Jesus factor and defying Christianity
What’s so galling about this giveaway is who benefits from the deal. While the military goes unpaid and government workers are laid off, Wall Street jumps for joy. Hedge funds and private investors who hold Argentine debt stand to make windfall profits from Trump’s loan, effectively using American taxpayer dollars to enrich the ultra-wealthy.
Earlier this month, Trump’s Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, told CNBC, “This trope that we’re helping out wealthy Americans with interests down there [Argentina] couldn’t be more false,”
Yeah, right, Scott. Your friends and former colleagues are going to cash in. That includes American billionaire hedge fund manager Rob Citrone.
Citrone has made substantial bets on Argentina’s economic future, according to Mother Jones. Citrone, cofounder of Discovery Capital Management, is also a friend and former colleague of Bessent, a connection that has not previously been reported in U.S. media. By Citrone’s own account, he played a key role in making Bessent extremely wealthy.
Maybe Scott should explain how he got so rich to the families of soldiers and civil servants now skipping mortgage payments and grocery runs and facing stiff medical bills. Or worse, getting a pink slip while this economy heads for disaster.
Related: Trusting Trump on tariffs and ‘hanging tough’ with him are as ridiculous as taxing penguins
Further, the Argentinian bailout is a direct transfer of risk from rich investors to ordinary Americans. It’s a reminder that this administration’s economic priorities are dictated less by strategy and more by capitalism by cronyism.
At home, the shutdown is gloomingly going into its third week, and the fallout is growing more grim with each passing day, as federal workers sink deeper into worry, debt, and desperation.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military, the institution Trump loves to pretend he’s devoted to but pays no attention to, suffers. He paraded service members humiliatingly in front of him on his birthday, and has dissed generals, the wounded, and prisoners of war. He appears to have no urgency to make sure they are taken care of as the shutdown marches on unabated.
He said a bill guaranteeing military pay during the shutdown “probably will happen.” Notice, he did not say, “It should happen.” And then came Friday’s announcement, underlining his nonchalant attitude.
And when one soldier’s wife confronted House Speaker Mike Johnson, pleading, “Our kids are going to die if you don’t pass this bill,” the one Trump said “probably” should happen. Johnson responded by saying, “The Democrats are the ones that are preventing you from getting a check.”
This shutdown is 100 percent the fault of Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress, because they are the ones in charge. They are the ones who have the responsibility to run the government. You can’t blame the Democrats when you control the executive and legislative branches.
For all intents and purposes it’s completely Trump’s government, since the Republican Congress is totally beholden to him and doesn’t make a move without him. Therefore, it’s Trump who is leaving the families of enlisted men and women rationing gas, skipping day care, and living off credit cards.
Johnson, meanwhile, could call the House back tomorrow and send a clean military funding bill to the Senate. But he won’t, not without Trump’s permission. Because once Johnson calls the House back, he would have to swear in Arizona Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, whose signature on the discharge petition to release the Epstein files would cross the threshold to pass the House.
So of course, Trump doesn’t want Johnson to call back the House because he doesn’t want those files to see the light of day. And that means no money for the troops.
So Johnson must decide whether he wants to help end the shutdown or continue to protect Trump. I think we all know what the answer to that question is.
As for those in power who might use their platforms to demand that troops get paid? Well, one man in particular is too wrapped up in his own ego to give a damn about the troops.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has mandated that every service member view or read his September 30 speech to senior commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, The Advocate learned this week. Yep, instead of working to ensure soldiers are paid, he’s more concerned with ensuring they see what a big deal he is.
Related: Pete Hegseth mandates that all military service members watch his fratty Virginia speech to generals
Trump campaigned on “America First,” but when you peel back the onion, his pattern is always the same, and that is wealth first, loyalty first, image first. It’s a three-way tie. He doesn’t care about the people — at all.
The shutdown could end tomorrow if Trump and Johnson wanted it to. They could pay the troops. They could reopen the government. But that would require something they both refuse to show, a bit of humility and admitting they were wrong. Fat chance of that.
Every day this shutdown drags on, the priorities of this administration become more disgustingly clear. The only checks Trump is willing to write are to foreign banks, not to the soldiers. The only rescue plans being hatched are for Trump’s investors and billionaire buddies, not the American people.
Voices is dedicated to featuring a wide range of inspiring personal stories and impactful opinions from the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. Visit Advocate.com/submit to learn more about submission guidelines. Views expressed in Voices stories are those of the guest writers, columnists, and editors, and do not directly represent the views of The Advocate or our parent company, equalpride.
This article originally appeared on Advocate: During Trump’s shutdown, Argentina gets $20 billion while our service members get … $0