Key keywords: Trump Latin America allies, US-Latin America relations, conservative Latin American leaders, post-Trump policy shifts, Latin America economic crisis, border security cooperation, regional governance challenges, campaign promise delivery, anti-drug policy collaboration Over the past seven years, a cohort of conservative Latin American leaders who rose to power by aligning closely with former U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy agenda are now facing a brutal reckoning as they struggle to deliver on core campaign promises tied to their alliance with Trump. For leaders including former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, Guatemala’s former president Alejandro Giammattei, and Argentina’s newly inaugurated libertarian president Javier Milei, public alignment with Trump’s agenda was marketed to voters as a fast track to increased U.S. trade access, direct security funding, and support for hardline policies on immigration, drug trafficking, and anti-communist governance. However, the reality has fallen far short of those pledges. Between 2017 and 2021, the Trump administration promised more than $2.8 billion in security and economic aid to its closest Latin American allies in exchange for their cooperation with the “Remain in Mexico” immigration policy, increased anti-drug patrols, and preferential trade terms for U.S. agricultural and energy exports. Less than 30% of that promised funding was ever disbursed, with most remaining aid packages blocked by U.S. congressional gridlock after the 2020 presidential election. The Biden administration rolled back most Trump-era agreements with these conservative governments, tying remaining aid to human rights compliance and environmental protection standards that many of these leaders have rejected as unfair interference. Domestic fallout has been severe for these administrations. In El Salvador, Bukele’s gang crackdown, which earned vocal praise from Trump, has left the country facing a $1.2 billion budget shortfall for prison operations and law enforcement, with no additional U.S. funding approved since 2021. In Argentina, Milei’s first three months in office have been marked by 113% annual inflation, mass protests against his austerity measures, and no sign of the $10 billion U.S. bailout he claimed he would secure from Trump’s political network during his campaign. Even for leaders who have left office, the alliance with Trump has created lasting political damage: Bolsonaro’s remaining political allies in Brazil’s congress have seen their approval ratings drop 18% since 2022, as voters blame them for failed trade deals that led to 14% higher prices for U.S. imported goods. As the 2024 U.S. presidential election approaches, many of these leaders are holding out hope for a Trump return to office, but their constituents are growing increasingly impatient with the lack of tangible progress on economic and security issues they were promised would be solved by their close ties to the former U.S. leader.