By Terence Smith
The first chaotic weeks of the second Trump Administration were strange enough up close, but viewed from afar — in this case Argentina and Brazil over the last three weeks — they seemed beyond bizarre.
It was borderline impossible to explain to Argentines, for example, what was behind the mass firings, the on-again, off-again U.S. tariffs and the talk of reclaiming the Panama Canal Zone and acquiring Greenland were all about. And Argentines know a thing or two about erratic leadership: their President, the curly-haired, chainsaw-brandishing Javier Melei, is a mini-Trump who is dismantling his own government, shaking up the Argentine economy and relishing the attention that comes with it. No surprise that Melei had a choice seat at the Trump inauguration and appeared, chainsaw in hand, with Elon Musk at the CPAC convention. It made great TV in Argentina, as well.
Trump’s embrace of Putin and dismissal of Ukraine were equally hard to explain to Brazilians. His proposal to push Palestinians out of Gaza and create “the riviera of the Middle East” brought dismissive laughs. Is he serious, they asked?
They puzzled as well over Trump’s long-winded, error-filled address to the joint session of Congress, wondering aloud whey it sounded so much like a campaign speech. Isn’t the campaign over, they asked? Yes, I said, but…
In the age of the internet and widespread wifi, all of this was instantly available in Rio. But, hey, Trump’s speech coincided with Shrove Tuesday, the height of Carnival! Brazilians had to party and party they did. The fantastical samba completion took precedence over everything. Trump’s eccentricities would have to wait.
Back home after three weeks, the Trump madness was front and center again, more immediate and much more personal, but no less strange.