Trump Attacks American Ranchers in More Ways Than One

By Jacob Weindling | October 22, 2025 | 4:04pm

Photo by USDAgov

Economy Beef

Trump Attacks American Ranchers in More Ways Than One

It is not hyperbolic at all to say that Trump has declared economic war on American farmers, because he also did dumb stuff in his first term that necessitated a farmer bailout. He has robbed them of their labor supply in his deportation raids, alienated their chief soybean customer and turned over $12 billion in sales to $0 in a year, and now he is taking ranchers to task. Beef prices are at all-time highs, which make our manbaby King sad. “The Cattle Ranchers, who I love, don’t understand” is an incredible way to start a post. A man who grew up in the place with the least cattle ranchers per capita in the world continued to lecture “The Cattle Ranchers” as to why they are “doing so well, for the first time in decades” because “I put Tariffs on cattle coming into the United States, including a 50 percent Tariff on Brazil.” That is why cheeseburgers cost more, the president admitted it. Tariffs.

But he thinks they shouldn’t cost more! Those mean farmers are just charging too gosh darn much because they don’t understand economics and how much Trump loves them. He loves them so much that today he pledged to quadruple the amount of beef he buys from their direct competition in Argentina.

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“At a fundamental level, this looks like a betrayal of America first principles,” said one anonymous GOP Senator to Politico this week when the idea was floated. “Bottom line: if the goal is addressing beef prices at the grocery store, this isn’t the way,” said Nebraska Republican Senator Deb Fischer in a statement. “This plan only creates chaos at a critical time of the year for American cattle producers, while doing nothing to lower grocery store prices,” said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association CEO Colin Woodall. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the GOP’s newest voice of reason, even shared a post that called Trump’s move to buy more Argentinian beef a “betrayal.”

All these statements came in response to Trump simply proposing the idea to buy more beef from Argentina, so you know the group chats right now are spicy. It is pretty incredible to do this on the same day he posted that “it would be nice if they understand” why farmers are supposedly doing so well under Trump, “but they also have to get their prices down.” No one hates Trump voters like Trump does.

While cattle farmers have been bringing in higher revenues due to higher beef prices, those prices are high in part because of low supply, per Trump’s own FDA, who wrote that “Cash receipts from cattle and calves are expected to increase $17.7 billion (15.7 percent), due to sustained growth in prices only partially offset by lower quantities.” The Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources found that farm income is projected to reach $177 billion this year, well up from $128 billion last year, but that “much of the gain is temporary” thanks to high beef prices and one-time government payments, according to Pat Westhoff, director of the institute.

Cattle ranchers have been having a very difficult time in recent years, as climate change led to a years-long drought that reduced grazing areas dramatically and thinned out herds across the country. By the beginning of 2025, the American cattle herd dwindled to its smallest number since 1951 according to U.S. government data, which is a major driver of higher beef prices. Like many things our manbaby King is destroying in our crumbling empire, this subject is already experiencing its own internal dynamics and forces leading to mounting difficulties, and Trump is making it worse.

Trump is buying Argentinian beef because like he said in his post, he wants beef prices to go down. His 19th century economic brain recognizes the words supply and demand, and simply thinks that if you add more supply, that will magically lower prices on its own. The problem is that this is not so much a dynamic of adding more supply to push prices down, but replacing existing American beef products with Argentinian ones to satisfy the same level of demand. The food economy is a lot more complex than this wannabe finance genius will ever understand, as demonstrated by major players and representatives of the food economy begging him not to do what he just did.

America first means Argentina first, don’t you get it? Trump is investing in America by making sure Argentinian farmers can sell soybeans to China and replace the American supply Trump just cut off! Buying Argentinian beef is also investing in America, because…uh…high beef prices…that have made farmers do better than ever!…need to come down…using Argentinian supply and not American.

What else is there to say anymore? He is wrecking rural economies left and right in the midst of Republican pushback. This is all so crazy (maybe there’s a reason why this is all so crazy…). We are lucky the American economy is as resilient as it has proven to be this year. Trump is stress testing every industry he can get his hands on, with farmers bearing a significant brunt of this idiotic trade war, and to make things worse, they have the audacity to not appreciate all that the president has done for them.