Trump wasn't that bad.........

[peppertree]

25. 242. Forced the IMF to lend his kleptocrat pal, Argentina's Macri, a record $45 billion

The bailout - triggered by the collapse of Macri's own $100 billion foreign debt bubble in 2018 - was meant to (somehow) salvage Macri's re-election chances in 2019.

Called "the world's most expensive campaign contribution," the loan was opposed by the IMF's policy board - but Trump used his representative, the now-disgraced Mauricio Claver-Carone, to push through the approval (Claver-Carone later admitted as much).

About 70% of the money was used to finance the dollarizing and offshoring of Argentine assets by both domestic and foreign speculators (colloquially called 'swallows' in Argentina, due to their habit of investing in Argentine bonds for a few months - and then moving the proceeds back to the U.S.).

Amid the worst recession in two decades, Macri lost anyway - but left Argentina saddled with the (unpayable) $45 billion loan, which current President Alberto Fernández refinanced with IMF and Biden administration support.