U.S. Representative Tracey Mann: “When President Trump was inaugurated in January, he was handed the baton way behind when it comes to agriculture. With the help of Secretary Brooke Rollins, however, President Donald J. Trump is opening up new markets, renegotiating trade deals, and working to usher in the Golden Age of American agriculture after four years of negligence from President Biden.”
Claim Being Fact-Checked:
Congressman Tracey Mann claims that when President Trump was inaugurated in January 2025, he inherited agriculture in a poor state due to four years of negligence under President Biden, and that Trump and Secretary Brooke Rollins are now opening new markets, renegotiating trade deals, and working to usher in a Golden Age of American agriculture. Assistance from Claude AI.
Summary:
This statement significantly misrepresents the state of American agriculture under the Biden administration and omits critical context about the causes of current agricultural challenges, including how Trump’s own tariff policies have contributed to farmer distress requiring billions in government aid.
Accuracy and Truthfulness:
The claim contains substantial inaccuracies and omissions. The Biden administration’s agricultural record contradicts the characterization of negligence. According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, under President Biden and Vice President Harris’s leadership, the four-year average of U.S. agriculture exports increased by 28.5 percent compared to the previous four years, with the administration securing over $26.7 billion in agricultural market access across the globe (USTR, 2024). U.S. agricultural exports posted the three highest years in history in 2021, 2022, and 2023, including a record of nearly $196 billion in 2022 and nearly $175 billion in 2023 (USDA, 2025).
The Biden administration made historic investments in climate-smart agriculture, providing up to $7.7 billion in assistance for fiscal year 2025 to help agricultural and forestry producers adopt conservation practices on working lands, more than double the amount available the previous year (USDA, 2024). The administration also secured numerous trade victories, including India eliminating and reducing tariffs on agricultural products, the Philippines finalizing E20 voluntary measures, and Chile approving a side letter to preserve market access for U.S. meats and cheeses valued at $62 million annually (USDA, 2025).
Regarding the American Relief Act of 2025, President Biden signed legislation in December 2024 providing $31 billion in economic and disaster aid for farmers, including $10 billion for the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program to help farmers recover from economic hardships, $21 billion in disaster aid for natural disasters, and an extension of the 2018 farm bill through September 2025 (Georgia Farm Bureau, 2024).
The Trump administration’s own documents contradict Mann’s characterization. According to USDA press releases, the Trump administration acknowledged inheriting challenges when it stated it has been working since January 20, 2025 to put American farmers first after inheriting one of the worst farm economies the country has experienced in decades (USDA, 2025). However, economic analyses reveal that the farm economy struggles were significantly caused by Trump’s tariff policies. According to Al Jazeera, Trump’s liberation day tariff announcement earlier in 2025 provoked steep retaliatory duties on U.S. products, particularly from China, including on U.S. agricultural exports, with Beijing raising duties on U.S. soya beans to 34 percent (Al Jazeera, 2025). Cornell University estimated that in the first half of 2025, the number of farm bankruptcies was 60 percent higher than a year before, with farm sector debt expected to rise by 5 percent to nearly $600 billion in 2025 (Al Jazeera, 2025).
The Trump administration announced a $12 billion aid package for farmers in December 2025, which NPR and other outlets characterized as relief for farmers hurt by Trump’s own tariff policies (NPR, 2025). CNN reported that Secretary Rollins suggested at a Cabinet meeting that it was not the impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs, but rather Biden administration policies, that have caused farmers to need assistance, though she did not directly acknowledge how tariffs have impacted farmers (CNN, 2025).
Regarding trade deals, the Trump administration has signed agreements with Malaysia and Cambodia and reached frameworks with Thailand and Vietnam (USTR, 2025). However, these agreements came after substantial damage to agricultural exports caused by Trump’s tariff policies. The White House characterized the $12 billion in aid as bridge payments to help farmers weather the period between abandoning Biden’s economic policies and Trump’s current agenda kicking in (CNBC, 2025).
Logical Fallacies:
The statement contains several logical fallacies. First, it employs a false dichotomy fallacy by framing the situation as either Biden’s negligence or Trump’s success, ignoring the complex economic factors and the documented successes of the Biden administration’s agricultural policies. Second, it contains a post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy by suggesting that current agricultural challenges are simply because they occurred after Biden’s term, when evidence shows Trump’s own tariff policies significantly contributed to farmer distress. Third, the statement uses cherry-picking by highlighting Trump’s trade agreements while omitting that these agreements are attempting to recover from damage caused by his own tariff policies and that Biden secured significantly more market access. Fourth, it employs a red herring fallacy by focusing attention on Biden’s alleged negligence rather than addressing how Trump’s policies have necessitated billions in farmer bailouts.
References:
Al Jazeera. (2025, December 10). Trump’s $12bn aid package: Are tariffs bleeding US farmers? https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/12/10/trumps-12bn-aid-package-are-tariffs-bleeding-us-farmers
CNBC. (2025, December 8). Trump announces $12 billion aid package for farmers caught up in trade war. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/08/trump-farmer-aid-trade-tariffs-china.html
CNN. (2025, December 8). Trump announces $12 billion farmer aid package. https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/08/politics/farm-aid-package-trump-tariffs
Georgia Farm Bureau. (2024, December). Congress extends farm bill through September 2025. https://www.gfb.org/news/ag-news/post/congress-extends-farm-bill-through-september-2025
NPR. (2025, December 8). Trump administration announces $12 billion in one-time payments to farmers. https://www.npr.org/2025/12/08/nx-s1-5637476/trump-administration-announcing-12-billion-in-one-time-payments-to-farmers
Office of the United States Trade Representative. (2024, October). ICYMI: Biden-Harris Administration continues to deliver for American agriculture producers. https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2024/october/icymi-biden-harris-administration-continues-deliver-american-agriculture-producers
U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2024, October 2). Biden-Harris Administration makes up to $7.7 billion available for climate-smart practices on agricultural lands. https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/press-releases/2024/10/02/biden-harris-administration-makes-77-billion-available-climate-smart-practices-agricultural-lands
U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2025, January 8). Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration advances agricultural exports in support of the U.S. economy. https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/press-releases/2025/01/08/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-advances-agricultural-exports-support-us-economy
U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2025, December 8). Trump Administration announces $12 billion farmer bridge payments for American farmers impacted by unfair market disruptions. https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/press-releases/2025/12/08/trump-administration-announces-12-billion-farmer-bridge-payments-american-farmers-impacted-unfair