Yesterday Trump took some time off from his long list of manufactured crises to address attendees at the 100th Annual American Farm Bureau Federation Convention in New Orleans; he used the opportunity to attempt to save face with farmers who are being crushed by his border wall standoff with Congress and the subsequent government shutdown.
“I like the farmers. What can I do? I like farmers,” Trump said in his opening remarks.
Yeah, but do you like them, or do you like them like them?
Later, Trump blasted illegal immigration while at the same time promising to make it easier for migrants to enter the country:
“The people that are sent to our country are not the people we want. They come in through the lottery, they come in through chain migration.
“I’m going to make it easier for them to come in and to work the farm.”
Change the subject from farmers to DREAMers, throw in some amnesty, and Trump sounds like he did during his first week in office when he began making plans to save DACA:
“They shouldn’t be very worried. I do have a big heart. We’re going to take care of everybody.
“We’re going to have a very strong border, we’re going to have a very solid border. Where you have great people that are here that have done a good job, they should be far less worried.”
But it’s not just the border wall and the government shutdown hurting rural America. Trump’s trade war with China is the hat trick in his economic game against farmers and ranchers. As expected, Trump used his speech to double down on his trade policies:
“We’ve taken the toughest ever actions to address China’s unfair trade practices.
“With China, every year for many years we’re losing $375 billion. We’re working on that very strong. You see what’s going on. Doing very well.
“We’re turning all of that around with fair trade deals that put American farmers, ranchers, and in fact America first.”
Typical of a man who carries no core convictions, Trump provided no details on how this was being accomplished; probably for good reason.
Farmers do “see what’s going on” and they’re not “doing very well.” For example, soybean exports to China are down 97 percent from last year, and dairy farmers are going out of business in states like Pennsylvania due to reduced exports of dairy products to China, “as well as cheese products to Mexico.”
As far as Trump’s claim about how the trade war has turned everything around with China, it was reported over the weekend that the US trade deficit with China grew 17% last year, reaching an all-time record high.
A manufactured trade war. A manufactured border crisis. A manufactured government shutdown. Combined, they are a trifecta of destruction for American farmers from Donald Trump.
And here’s a fun fact: Trump’s trade war hurt farmers so badly that he had them put on a government subsidy program to survive — and buy their votes — but thanks to the government shutdown created by his fake border crisis, farmers are unable to get their checks.
You can’t make this stuff up.
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative. His politically incorrect and always “right” columns are also featured on NOQReport.com.
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