The Looting Blueprint: From Pardons to Project 2025, and Why Local Pushback Matters

From pardons to bailouts to county boards, Trump’s machine is a smash-and-grab operation. The only way to stop it is to disrupt it.

Authoritarians rarely try to build lasting states. They build smash-and-grab machines, designed for immediate extraction, not long-term stewardship. And we can watch it play out in real time.

Just this week, the Trump administration pledged a $20 billion bailout to Argentina’s Javier Milei, a man Trump calls a “fantastic and powerful leader.” Milei has gutted social programs, fueled inflation with whiplash austerity, and then leaned on his friends abroad to keep the lights on. The result? Washington is preparing to buy Argentine bonds and shovel U.S. taxpayer money into Milei’s re-election campaign disguised as economic “stability.” Even Steve Bannon squawked a one-word review on Gettr: “Wat.”