This week, editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch examine Argentina's $20 billion bailout and what it means for President Javier Milei's promise of a libertarian turnaround. They debate whether foreign aid undermines his free market agenda and what the deal suggests about Washington's own commitment to fiscal restraint.
The editors also discuss this weekend's "No Kings" protests. They analyze Trump's growing use of executive authority during the ongoing government shutdown, including his decision to keep paying troop salaries amid federal layoffs. The panel then looks to Trump's continued bombing of the alleged drug boats off Venezuela's coast, and the decision to repatriate survivors. Finally, a listener asks what checks and balances could exist in a truly libertarian country to prevent the kind of centralization of power seen in the United States today.