Assistance from Claude AI. For a fact-check, see Roundtable: Trump Administration Announces $11 Billion Aid Package for American Farmers.
Summary
President Donald Trump announced an $11 billion economic assistance package for American farmers on December 8, 2025, funded through tariff revenue, with an additional $1 billion held in reserve for specialty crops. The aid serves as a “bridge payment” to help farmers recover from what the administration characterizes as the Biden administration’s damaging agricultural policies, including high input costs and lack of new trade deals. The announcement came alongside major trade commitments, including over $40 billion in Chinese soybean purchases and $8 billion in Japanese agricultural purchases. Trump also promised to remove environmental regulations on farm equipment to reduce costs and pledged swift action on rice dumping from India, Thailand, and China. The event highlighted the administration’s emphasis on using tariff revenue to support domestic industries while pursuing what officials called a “golden age for agriculture.”
Participants
- Donald J. Trump – President of the United States
- Brooke Rollins – Secretary of Agriculture
- Scott Bessent – Treasury Secretary
- Kevin Hassett – Director of the National Economic Council
- Senator John Boozman – Arkansas (Senate Agriculture Committee)
- Senator John Hoeven – North Dakota
- Senator Deb Fischer – Nebraska
- Representative Austin Scott – Georgia
- Cordt Holub – Iowa farmer, representing soybean and livestock producers
- Meryl Kennedy – Louisiana rice farmer and mill owner (Kennedy Rice Mill)
- Various members of the press
Trump’s Opening Remarks: Context and Framing
President Trump opened the roundtable by framing the agricultural assistance as part of broader efforts to reduce prices for American consumers. He immediately established his administration’s narrative that they “inherited a total mess from the Biden administration, the highest inflation in the country’s history.” Trump highlighted falling energy prices, noting that three states had recently reported gasoline prices at $1.99 per gallon, which he called “a sacred number” and “an amazing accomplishment.”
Trump emphasized what he characterized as a simple political reality: “They caused it. We’re fixing it,” referring to Democrats and the affordability crisis. He criticized the way Democrats discuss affordability without acknowledging their role in creating inflation, saying “nobody questions them” when they use the term.
The President then pivoted to the central announcement, explaining that the assistance would come from “a small portion of the hundreds of billions of dollars we receive in tariffs.” He characterized these tariffs as reversing decades of foreign countries taking advantage of the United States, noting “our deficits are way down because of tariffs.”
The $12 Billion Aid Package: Structure and Timing
Trump announced the headline figure of $12 billion in economic assistance to American farmers, though Secretary Rollins later clarified the structure: $11 billion would be distributed immediately, with $1 billion held in reserve for specialty crops and other agricultural sectors still being evaluated.
Key details of the aid package:
Secretary Rollins explained that farmers would know their exact payment amounts by the end of December 2025, allowing them to plan for the 2026 planting season. The actual money would be distributed by February 28, 2026. She described this as a “bridge payment” necessary to help farmers transition from the previous administration’s policies to what she called “a new golden age for agriculture.”
The Secretary emphasized the crisis farmers inherited: “Profitability is down. It’s just one crisis after another.” She detailed the cost increases under Biden: fertilizer up 36 percent, labor up 47 percent, and interest rates up 73 percent. She contrasted this with the fact that “not one new trade deal had been struck in four years” under the Biden administration.
Kevin Hassett, Director of the National Economic Council, provided stark statistics to justify the bridge payment. He noted that during COVID, farm production remained strong, but under Biden, “150,000 farms closed.” He explained that farm expenses fell 5 percent during Trump’s first term but increased 13 percent under Biden. Most dramatically, he revealed that interest expenses for farms fell $120 million per year during Trump’s first term but increased $8 billion per year under Biden.
Trade Commitments: China, Japan, and International Markets
China and Soybeans
Trump devoted considerable attention to Chinese agricultural purchases, particularly soybeans. He revealed that during his recent meeting with President Xi Jinping in South Korea (Busan), he secured commitments for substantial soybean purchases. Throughout the roundtable, Trump jokingly noted that every conversation with Xi begins with requests for more soybean purchases.
Secretary Bessent provided specific numbers: China committed to purchase “at least 12 million metric tons of US soybeans this growing season followed by a minimum of 25 million tons annually for the next three years.” Trump mentioned a total commitment of “over $40 billion of soybean purchases.”
Trump made an interesting claim about American soybean quality, stating he told President Xi that “our soybeans are more nutritious than competitors.” He acknowledged this sounded like a “Trump statement” and noted that Xi himself questioned whether this was true, though Trump maintained it’s what he had heard.
Japan’s Historic Commitments
Trump highlighted Japan’s agreement to $8 billion in purchases covering corn, soybeans, ethanol, fertilizer, aviation biofuel, and notably, rice. He emphasized the significance of Japan’s rice purchase: “Japan never bought rice from anybody else. It’s like, a very important thing to them and they agreed to buy rice.”
Overall Trade Success
Bessent noted that Treasury, USTR (U.S. Trade Representative), and the Department of Commerce have “secured supplemental purchases of US agricultural goods in major trade agreements across the world to open new markets to America’s farmers.” Trump claimed his administration had already secured “$60 billion in agricultural purchase commitments” while Biden “made none.”
Estate Tax Elimination: Protecting Family Farms
Trump spent significant time explaining the elimination of the estate tax (also called the “death tax”) for farmers and small businesses, describing it as one of the most important provisions in what he called the “One Big, Beautiful Bill.”
He explained the previous problem in accessible terms: many farms are “cash poor, land rich,” meaning the land has significant value but doesn’t generate enough cash flow to pay substantial taxes. When farmers died and left their farms to their children, the children would have to borrow money to pay the estate tax, often leading to bankruptcy and loss of the family farm.
Trump made the emotional impact clear: “A lot of death too. You know, literally because they love their farm and they love their business and they love that way of life, they end up committing suicide, a lot of suicides.” He added with characteristic bluntness: “We have no more estate tax. How about that?”
In a lighter moment, Trump noted: “If you love your children then it’s good. If you don’t love your children, you don’t have to leave them anything. It doesn’t matter what I just said.”
Senator Hoeven later praised this provision, noting it was enhanced in the tax bill and would “kick in next year in a big, big way for our farmers.”
Environmental Regulations on Farm Equipment
Trump announced a significant policy change that drew enthusiastic support from the farmers present: removing environmental regulations on agricultural equipment, particularly tractors and machinery from companies like John Deere.
Trump explained the problem from his perspective: “I buy a lot of that machinery for different things. We have a lot of big clubs with hundreds, thousands of acres and I buy a lot of stuff and you buy it, it’s got so much equipment on it for the environmental. It doesn’t do anything except it makes the equipment much more expensive and much more complicated to work.”
He characterized the regulations as making equipment “not as good as the old days” and creating constant repair needs: “The machines, they’re always under repair because they’re so complicated that you can’t fix them. The old days you used to fix it yourself. Now you can’t do that, you have to be a PhD from, let’s say, MIT.”
Trump promised these regulations would be removed immediately, working with Lee Zeldin (presumably EPA Administrator), and that companies would be required to reduce their prices accordingly. He joked: “You really have to be — in many cases, you need about 185 IQ to turn on a lawnmower now.”
Cordt Holub, the Iowa farmer, enthusiastically confirmed: “Oh, yes. Yes. It’s got to go.”
Rice Industry Crisis: Dumping and Trade Violations
Meryl Kennedy, owner of Kennedy Rice Mill in Mer Rouge, Louisiana, presented what she called not just a crisis but “market dynamics that really are anti-competitive in nature.” Her family business employs around 150 people and supplies major food companies domestically and internationally.
The Dumping Problem
Kennedy explained that rice imports had reached unprecedented levels, with countries dumping rice into the United States: “We’ve never seen imports this great.” She identified the main culprits as India, Thailand, and China (particularly into Puerto Rico).
She noted the Puerto Rico situation was especially egregious: “Puerto Rico used to be one of the largest markets for US rice. We haven’t shipped rice into Puerto Rico in years.” Trump learned that Puerto Rico’s rice market had been “100 percent US based” and is now dominated by foreign imports.
Trump’s Response
Trump engaged directly with Kennedy’s concerns, asking Bessent about India’s tariff status. When told they were still working on India’s trade deal, Trump responded: “They should be dumping. I mean, I heard that from others, so you can’t do that.”
He instructed both Kennedy and Bessent to provide him with a complete list of countries dumping rice, saying multiple times that the problem could be “solved in one day” with appropriate tariffs. Trump emphasized: “Your problem is solved in one day. That’s what they did to our car — we lost more than 50 percent of our car industry because of that we lost our chip industry went to Taiwan because of that.”
Kennedy noted there’s already a WTO (World Trade Organization) case against India, and she also mentioned that Indian companies had purchased “the two largest brands at retail,” giving them incentive to subsidize their products to maintain shelf presence.
National Security Frame
Kennedy emphasized that “rice is more than just a commodity. It’s a currency in many of these countries,” framing the issue as a national security concern. Trump agreed, and Kennedy stressed the theme: “Our farmers can feed this nation and many nations abroad, but we need fair trade, not free trade.”
Fertilizer Costs and Domestic Production
A reporter asked about fertilizer production, noting that much fertilizer comes from Canada and other countries, contributing to high input costs for farmers.
Trump responded that the administration would address this through tariffs: “You put very severe tariffs on from coming into other countries. You’ll be making your own fertilizer very soon.” He characterized it as a situation where “they take fertilizer out of the country, all of a sudden we don’t do it anymore and then they start charging and sending it, you know, very high prices from other countries.”
Secretary Rollins added that the cabinet had developed “a whole plan in place, including the reshoring of fertilizer and the opportunity to do it in America.” She was working with Secretary Burgum (Interior) and others on this initiative.
Rollins also revealed that Trump had issued a directive to investigate why input costs had “skyrocketed” while farmers struggled, particularly looking at fertilizer companies, seed companies, equipment companies, and meat packing companies, many of which are foreign-owned and “continue to make a lot of money hand over fist.”
Legislative Achievements: The “One Big, Beautiful Bill”
Multiple speakers referenced the tax and spending legislation that Trump repeatedly called the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” (officially the Working Family Tax Relief Act, though some staff called it “OB3”).
Key Agricultural Provisions
Secretary Bessent outlined major agricultural benefits:
- Full expensing for farm equipment
- 100 percent expensing for farm structures built during Trump’s term
- Enhanced relief from estate taxes for family farms
Representative Scott noted that farm structures weren’t originally included: “I believe Representative Scott and a group in the House… originally just going to do factories and they called us and said you need to do farm structures too. And the president said, we’re all in.”
Senator Hoeven highlighted additional provisions:
- Enhanced ARC and PLC (Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage) – countercyclical safety net programs
- The “Farmer Act” to make crop insurance more affordable
- These tools “will kick in next year, Mr. President, in a big, big way for our farmers”
Secretary Rollins called it “the largest investment in rural America in any of our lifetimes.”
European Union Deforestation Regulation
Representative Austin Scott raised a specific trade issue that hadn’t received much attention: the European Union’s deforestation regulation. He explained that the EU established rules for Brazil regarding deforestation but was now applying them to American farmers, “telling the American farmer what they can and can’t do on their own land.”
Scott described the specific impact: “If their timber is cut and they are going to use that land for pasture land or for production agriculture that they will not take the timber or the byproducts from the sale of that timber.”
Trump’s immediate response demonstrated his hands-on approach to trade issues: “If you would give me a two-paragraph statement on that, I will give that to them and they will do what they have to do.” He added: “They pass little regulations that are — that cost billions of dollars. It takes them two minutes to do it… You give me a couple of paragraphs. That’s all. We don’t have to do a lengthy study and I’ll get that changed fast.”
Trump used this exchange to emphasize the importance of tariff authority: “We have to be able to act quickly with tariffs. We can’t just, you know, go to a committee, go to a study that takes seven months and talk. We got to be able to act quickly.”
Farmer Perspectives: Personal Stories from the Field
Cordt Holub – Iowa
Cordt Holub, representing Iowa farmers, began with a touching story: his two-year-old son told him he didn’t want Santa Claus for Christmas, he wanted President Trump. Holub said, “I think you brought Christmas to farmers. With this bridge payment, we’ll be able to farm another year.”
Holub shared his personal connection to farming: he lost his grandfather and a hired hand in a farming accident in 2002, yet the love of farming remained “in our blood.” He stated his goal: “I want my two year old to farm. I want my four month old daughter to have an opportunity.”
He praised Trump’s work on multiple fronts:
- Tax provisions allowing him to potentially pass the farm to his children
- Trade deals with backbone to “stand up to other countries”
- Ethanol support, particularly pushing for E15 year-round
On E15 (gasoline with 15% ethanol), Holub was emphatic: “E15 is a great deal year round. You could have the biggest stamp, I did that, Trump did that and we would thank you. Farmers would love you more than anything if we could continue that.”
He also mentioned continued work needed on California’s Proposition 12 (animal welfare standards) and emphasized using domestic products: “We can keep America first and you’re good at that.”
Meryl Kennedy – Louisiana Rice
Beyond her discussion of rice dumping covered earlier, Kennedy provided context about her operation. She’s the youngest of four daughters who run the family business in Mer Rouge, Louisiana (population approximately 1,000). The mill takes rice “from the field to a finished product,” and she and her sisters started their own rice brand “to just tell the story of American agriculture that hadn’t really been told before.”
Kennedy noted that current rice prices are “the lowest they’ve been in over 40 years,” meaning her operation would likely “max out” on the government payments and would need further assistance from Congress. She thanked Trump for what he had done for California rice exports to Japan, calling it “monumental for our industry,” while emphasizing the crisis in southern rice production.
Supreme Court Case on Tariff Authority
Trump made multiple references to what he called a “very important” Supreme Court case regarding tariff authority. While he didn’t specify the case name, he clearly viewed it as critical to his trade policy.
He explained the stakes: “We have a lot of bad people opposed to this, people that hate our country. Other countries are involved, some real sleazebags that I know, political sleazebags. And they’re trying to take that away from us.”
Trump acknowledged alternative methods exist but emphasized they’re inadequate: “We have other methods, but they’re not as powerful. They’re not as quick. Some of the wars that I saw wouldn’t have been solved using those methods. So it’s a very important thing, the tariff. The decision of the Supreme Court is a very important thing.”
He noted to Bessent: “Scott, we can do it other ways, but it’s slow and it’s cumbersome and it doesn’t have the power. It doesn’t have the national security power that what we have.”
Food Security and National Security
Senator Boozman articulated the broader strategic importance of agricultural policy. He recounted a presentation where Marco Rubio (now Secretary of State, then Senator) interrupted him: “He punched me and said, John, always remind them food security is national security.”
Boozman praised Trump’s consistency: “The one thing that farmers can be certain of is the fact that you’ve got their back and you prove that through the years, in the last administration and now this.”
Representative Scott reinforced this theme: “A country that can’t feed itself doesn’t know what freedom is. And so thank you for making sure that our farmers have the tools that they need so that we, as a country can feed ourselves.”
Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) and Agriculture
A reporter asked about MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) incentives for farmers following MAHA guidelines.
Secretary Rollins provided an expansive answer, calling this “another reason I think that what we’re moving into is a golden age for agriculture.” She explained that the administration’s focus on making America healthy again has agriculture as its “undergirding foundational effort.”
She noted that USDA spends “$400 million a day on nutrition programs” and discussed issues with SNAP fraud. As new dietary guidelines are released in early January, Rollins explained, there would be an effort to “move the market toward more locally produced, American-made healthier products closer to the schools, the hospitals, etc.”
This shift would “open up so much of the market for the great products produced by these farmers instead of ultra-processed foods out of a box.”
Press Questions: Wide-Ranging Topics
Egg Prices and Food Costs
Trump brought up eggs as an example of his administration’s effectiveness, noting that when he took office, “people in the media were three days into office… saying egg prices are up like 90 percent, more than that. And I said I just got here.”
He credited Secretary Rollins with bringing egg prices “down to below what they were before,” noting “she’s doing a great job. Now beef is starting to come down and some other things are starting to come down again.”
On the avian flu vaccine issue, Representative Scott praised Rollins: “She said we’re not going to use a vaccine that doesn’t work. We’re going to develop a vaccine that does. And that is 100 percent what it takes.”
Impact Timeline on Grocery Prices
When asked how quickly the aid package would affect grocery store prices, Trump argued that prices were already coming down substantially. He claimed inflation was “essentially gone” and normalized, though he cautioned: “You don’t want it to be deflation either. You have to be careful.”
He stated that the administration had brought inflation down from “the highest in the history of our country” (which he said was officially 48 years but he considered it the worst ever).
Healthcare and Obamacare
A reporter noted that 22 million Americans would see healthcare premiums rise as Obamacare subsidies expire.
Trump launched into a critique of Obamacare, calling it “a disaster” and “a setup to make insurance companies rich.” He claimed insurance company stock had “gone up 1,700 percent in a short period of time,” joking to the farmers: “You wish your corn went up that.”
His proposed solution: “I don’t want to pay the insurance companies anything… I want to pay the people and I want the people to go out and buy their own health care.” He argued the money should go directly to individuals through accounts where “they can buy their own health care.”
Trump claimed “everybody wants that” except Democrats who “want to make the insurance companies very rich” because “they’re all paid off by the insurance companies.”
Venezuela Boat Strike Video
A reporter asked about releasing video from a September 2nd strike on a drug-running boat off Venezuela’s coast.
Trump emphasized the life-saving impact of interdiction: “Every boat we knock out of the water, every boat, we save 25,000 American lives.” He stated the administration was “92 or 94 percent down in drugs coming in by the sea.”
He defended the action: “That was a boat loaded up with drugs… every single boat we shoot out on average, we save 25,000 American lives.” When pressed about releasing the full video, he deferred to Secretary Hegseth: “Whatever Pete Hegseth wants to do is OK with me.”
Russia-Ukraine Peace Efforts
On Russia-Ukraine negotiations, Trump focused on casualties: “Last month, 27,000 soldiers died, mostly soldiers… That’s what I want to see stopped.”
He noted the change in U.S. posture: “We, as you know, we now sell equipment to NATO at full price and NATO takes that equipment and probably gives it to Ukraine.” He emphasized: “We aren’t spending money. What we are doing is spending time on a humane basis.”
Trump contrasted his approach with Biden’s, claiming Biden gave Ukraine $350 billion while “you know what I gave them, nothing… well, I did give them javelins at the beginning and knocked out a hell of a lot of tanks, but… Obama gave sheets.”
Blue Slip Controversy
Trump engaged in an extended discussion about the Senate “blue slip” tradition when asked about Alina Habba stepping down as U.S. Attorney nominee for New Jersey’s District.
He explained that blue slips give senators veto power over judicial and U.S. Attorney nominees from their states: “I can’t appoint a US attorney, that’s not a Democrat because they put a block on it.” He claimed this meant he couldn’t appoint Republican U.S. Attorneys in states with Democratic senators like Virginia, New Jersey, or California.
Trump was frustrated: “I put up George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to be US attorney in New Jersey… they will not approve them.” He criticized Senator Grassley for maintaining the tradition: “Senator Grassley with his blue slip stuff will not let anybody go by.”
He noted Democrats have “violated the blue slip provision on numerous occasions” but Republicans don’t reciprocate. Trump suggested the real purpose was to “protect their ass” and called for the practice to be eliminated.
Childhood Vaccine Schedule
Asked about federal vaccine mandates for children, Trump said: “We’re looking at a lot of things having to do with vaccines… I think we take like 88 different shots all wrapped up in one, one big glass of stuff like that. And we’re going to be reducing it very substantially.”
He assured safety: “It’ll be safe, but we’re going to be reducing it very substantially.”
European Union Fine on X
When asked about the European Commission imposing a fine on X (formerly Twitter), Trump said he hadn’t heard from Elon Musk asking for help but added: “I don’t think it’s right. No, I don’t think it’s right. I don’t see how they can do that.”
He issued a broader warning: “Europe has to be very careful. They’re doing a lot of things. We want to keep Europe, Europe. Europe is going in some bad directions. It’s very bad. Very bad for the people. We don’t want Europe to change so much.”
Investment Claims
Trump made substantial claims about investment flowing into the United States, stating: “We have $18 trillion coming into our country right now. There’s never been anything like it.”
He compared this to the previous record: “The most — the biggest number ever in history was $2 trillion and we’re at $18 trillion. This is money pouring into our country on building car plants or building AI plants.”
Bessent confirmed: “Sir, this is a record year — record year.”
Tone and Dynamics
The roundtable reflected Trump’s characteristic communication style—mixing policy substance with personal anecdotes, combative exchanges with reporters, and informal banter with allies. He repeatedly emphasized his administration’s accomplishments while sharply criticizing the Biden administration.
The farmers present were clearly supportive, with Holub’s story about his son wanting Trump for Christmas and Kennedy’s joke about Trump having a button for rice instead of Coke reflecting the warmth between the President and agricultural representatives.
Trump showed detailed engagement with farmer concerns, asking follow-up questions, requesting written briefings on specific issues (like the EU deforestation regulation and rice dumping), and making immediate commitments to action. His promise to solve the rice dumping issue “in one day” with tariffs exemplified his confidence in executive action.
The senators and representatives present offered strong praise, with Boozman noting Trump’s consistency in asking “how are my farmers” in every conversation. Secretary Rollins repeatedly referred to Trump as supporting a “golden age for agriculture.”
Trump closed by inviting only the farmers (and their congressional representatives) into the Oval Office for photos, explicitly excluding others: “The farmers, nobody else, just the farmers,” drawing laughter from the room.
MLA Citation
“Remarks: Donald Trump Holds a Roundtable on American Farmers – December 8, 2025.” Factbase, Roll Call, 8 Dec. 2025, factba.se.