But honestly did Milei or Trump really have anything to do with this? Judges at this level don't get bribed. This isn't Argentina. If anything Kicillof and Cristina are the ones that look like geniuses. What am I missing?
No, as much as Milei wants to take credit it has nothing to do with Milei's relationship with Trump. My father was a Federal judge.
Neither Milei nor Trump pulled any strings to make this happen. The rumors floating around that Milei’s relationship with Trump influenced the outcome are pure political fiction, born out of the timing of the ruling and the fact that the two leaders have publicly allied themselves.
How the US Federal Courts Actually Work
This isn't a jurisdiction where a politician can just make a phone call to fix a case. The judges on the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in New York) are lifetime appointees. They deal with some of the most complex corporate and sovereign litigation in the world.
Argentina won this appeal based on highly technical legal arguments -most likely centering on the "Act of State" doctrine (which prevents US courts from judging the public acts of a recognized foreign sovereign within its own territory) or issues regarding whether US courts were even the proper venue for an Argentine corporate dispute (forum non conveniens). This legal defense has been in motion for years, long before Milei took office or formed an alliance with Trump.
While Milei's government is taking credit for saving the country from bankruptcy, Axel Kicillof and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner are absolutely claiming this as a complete vindication of their strategy.
To their political base, they look like geniuses today. Their narrative is incredibly potent right now: "We reclaimed YPF, secured Vaca Muerta for the Argentine people, and we successfully defeated the Wall Street vulture funds in their own courts without paying them a dime."
Domestically, this is a massive political gift for Kirchnerism. from an international business perspective, the way they executed the seizure still destroyed trust and cratered foreign direct investment for over a decade.
