One of Trump's biggest foreign allies is 'rapidly' collapsing

One of Donald Trump's biggest far-right foreign allies is seeing his government "rapidly" collapse, and according to a new breakdown from The i Paper, his descent into unpopularity is a major warning for the rest of the president's second term.

Writing for the outlet on Wednesday, reporter Matthew Bailey broke down the rise, success and current collapse of Argentina's President Javier Milei, who was swept into power in 2023 and became a close ally of Trump and the MAGA movement. He continued to see victories after his party "won big again" in last year's Argentinian midterms, but just as Trump has seen a huge decline in popularity, Milei's support from voters is in freefall after "recent scandals and a struggling economy," with his approval tanking six points in one month.

"The rapid drop in support for Milei – known for eye-catching stunts such as smashing a piñata shaped like a bank – may serve as a warning for Trump that his economic struggles and populist politics could hurt him in the November midterms," Bailey wrote. "While they differ somewhat on economics – with Milei advocating for radical, free-market capitalism, and Trump favouring a more protectionist economy, utilizing measures such as tariffs – both leaders share a similar brand of right-wing populism. They have formed a close bond. The Argentine president was the first foreign leader to meet Trump following his 2024 election victory and has visited the US as president 17 times."

"They both align publicly with a very conservative, right-wing ideology, but in their private lives, they’re very libertarian," Francisco Carballo, a lecturer in Latin American politics at Goldsmiths, told The i Paper. "They are not religious or very conservative but espouse these views because they are convenient.”

This partnership soured many in Trump's MAGA base last year when the administration announced plans to send Argentina a $20 billion bailout, one of the earliest signs that the president's "America First" rhetoric was beginning to ring hollow.

Milei's initial support in office came from his success managing pressing economic issues in Argentina, bringing runaway inflation down from 200 percent to around 30 percent annually. The severe spending cuts that he implemented, however, are starting to cause serious pain for his constituents, with the country's GDP seeing the largest month-to-month fall since 2023 this past February.

"Milei’s administration has also found itself embroiled in political scandal, with federal prosecutors investigating his chief of staff, Manuel Adorni, over alleged corruption," Bailey wrote. "The president also came under investigation after a supportive social media post caused a surge in the value of the $LIBRA cryptocurrency in February last year, before a rapid crash."

Experts told the outlet that these failures are likely to signal to voters that "these guys are not actually different, they are just like everyone else," creating major headwinds if Milei cannot right the ship by the next presidential election in late 2027.

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