Donald Trump speaks to a farmer
On Tuesday, a new report revealed that President Donald Trump doesn’t have the cash to pay the $8 billion his administration had only hours earlier promised to farmers suffering under high diesel prices. According to Politico, the fund the administration would use doesn’t have enough to cover the payments, meaning Congress will have to approve a funding package, which won’t happen until after the midterms, if at all.
“Republicans locked in tight races this November are desperately hoping the Trump administration’s last-minute gambit to send farmers $8 billion in taxpayer money will work,” explains Politico. “The move comes as White House officials have scrambled to address anger in farm states from Republicans. Trump’s decisions to import more foreign beef, his tariff regime and high fuel costs amid the Iran war have riled already strained farmers and ranchers — a key GOP voting bloc.” But according to sources close to the plan who spoke with Politico on condition of anonymity, “Farmers won’t know how much money to expect for several more weeks. Even then, if approved, they won’t receive the payments until late November or early December at the earliest.”
That may be too late to help top Republicans who are banking on the announcement to stem GOP bleeding in farm states — especially in the Midwest, where Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), GOP Senate nominee Ashley Hinson in Iowa, and GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers in Michigan have been floundering. Some have even broken with Trump publicly on high prices and the war that is largely responsible for causing them. “This will go a long way to making sure the folks that feed us have it a bit easier when they most need it,” said Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), referring to the farmers in his district. He’s battling out a highly competitive race in a rural-heavy stretch in Wisconsin’s 3rd District.
According to Politico, however, “the internal USDA taxpayer-funded account Trump is tapping for the payments doesn’t actually have enough money in it right now to make the payments, meaning Congress will have to approve the new funds or the administration will have to take it from another program, according to three Trump officials who were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.” What’s more, “Trump’s decision also comes after administration officials realized the president’s previous step to make off-road dyed diesel more widely available had limited benefits for farm country over other options, according to two of the Trump officials and another administration official involved in the matter. Top agriculture lobbyists further warned the dyed diesel plan could actually backfire on farmers, because they could still be required to pay taxes on the product — just further down the road.” Even if Trump did manage to dole out the $8 million, top agriculture groups say it would be a small fraction of what’s needed to alleviate the situation, warning “they’d need at least $50 billion in direct aid this fall to make farmers whole following the impacts of tariffs, weather-related disasters and other high costs linked to the Iran war’s chokehold on agricultural supplies.”
Meanwhile, reporters earlier in the day revealed that the bailout math doesn’t add up to much relief on a farm-to-farm basis. “That’s an average of $4,250 per American farm, based on latest USDA data of 1.88 million farms,” pointed out Bloomberg Energy and commodities columnistJavier Blas. Considering the price of diesel and the real-world usage of farming equipment, that breaks down to about 112 hours of operation for a medium-sized tractor or just 40 hours for a large tractor – and farms operate roughly three tractors each on average. That $8 billion, in other words, is just a drop in the bucket.