American cattle ranchers expressed profound shock this week after President Donald Trump, who campaigned extensively on putting America first while simultaneously praising Argentine President Javier Milei as an economic visionary, announced plans to import Argentine beef that would directly undercut their livelihoods.
Wyoming-based Meriwether Farms called the Sunday announcement an "absolute betrayal to the American cattle rancher," apparently having spent the past year not reading any news about Trump's increasingly close relationship with Milei or the administration's $40 billion bailout package designed specifically to stabilize Argentina's failing economy.
The beef import proposal arrives as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent works to expand Argentina's financial rescue to $40 billion, with Trump explicitly telling reporters the bailout depends on Milei staying in power. "If he wins, we're staying with him. And if he doesn't win, we're gone," Trump said, in what observers noted was an unusually clear explanation of exactly how this would play out.
Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana told reporters he was "more concerned about the Argentine beef coming in that's undercutting our Made in America cattle," marking what sources confirmed was his first time considering the logical consequences of financially rescuing a major beef-producing competitor.
The ranchers' surprise comes despite Illinois soybean farmer John Bartam recently watching China purchase seven million tons of Argentine soybeans instead of American ones after Trump's initial bailout enabled Milei to lower export taxes. Bartam remarked the situation had him "wondering if this is Make America Great Again or Make Argentina Great Again," suggesting he may be developing a rudimentary understanding of cause and effect.
At press time, MAGA supporters were hurriedly explaining that when Trump said "America First," he obviously meant "Argentina First, Then America Eventually, Maybe."
.png)
