Trump gives Argentina $40B bailout while US farmers face mounting bankruptcy wave across America
On May 19, President Donald Trump’s Department of Agriculture unveiled its so-called “Farmers First” policy initiative with an aggressive marketing campaign. There was a press conference with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, a social media campaign promoting the initiative and a glossy pamphlet trumpeting the hard work and dignity of America’s family farmers.
Five months later, America’s farmers are collateral damage in the administration’s worldwide trade war.
The economic situation in farm country is increasingly dire. In my home state of Minnesota, soybean farmers are buckling under the weight of the president’s tariffs, which have decimated their most important export markets. I sat down with many of them last month in Lakeville, Minnesota, to talk about how tariffs are driving up input costs and putting the squeeze on their operations.