During today’s cabinet meeting, Donald Trump and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins falsely claimed that the U.S. is moving to a “golden age for our farmers.” Meanwhile, U.S. agriculture exports are expected to decline in 2025 and 2026 — thanks to Trump’s reckless trade war — and farmers are drowning under the weight of his unnecessary tariffs. But Rollins got one thing right: The “farm economy is in a very uncertain time.”  

In response, DNC Communications Director Rosemary Boeglin released the following statement:

“Donald Trump and Brooke Rollins’ spin on their unhinged trade war is pathetic. They say that they support American farmers, but the truth is that Trump’s tariffs have destroyed trade relationships, increased fertilizer and equipment costs, and tanked our rural economies. Now, many farmers are on the brink of bankruptcy, and the agricultural sector is in recession. Trump’s rumored bailout won’t solve the problems he has created. Farmers don’t want handouts — they want to be able to sell their crops. Trump’s trade war has made that impossible, putting family farms on the brink of bankruptcy while Trump bails out other countries.”

Rollins: “This president has been unequivocal in his support for the farmers.”

Fact check: Trump’s reckless trade war is taking a wrecking ball to the farm economy and rural America. Trump’s economy is screwing over farmers and driving family farms out of business. Operating costs have soared, crop prices have crashed and farmers are now locked out of markets because of Trump’s tariffs.

Rollins: “In Term One, we worked on it so hard and opened up markets, but especially this term.” 

Fact check: In Trump’s first term, he claimed farmers were “very little hurt” from what he did, despite the fact that in 2019, U.S. farm bankruptcies increased 20%. Some farmers never fully recovered from the first-term trade wars. Once again, in his second term, Trump’s tariffs have devastated soybean farmers, who used to rely on China as their biggest buyer and now are locked out of the market completely because of Trump’s ongoing trade standoff. 

To make matters worse, Trump and his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent chose to bail out Argentina’s economy to the tune of $20 billion, while it undercuts American farmers by selling Argentine soybeans to China at manipulative prices. Leaked texts between Bessent and Rollins reveal that the White House knows how absurd and hypocritical their bailout is, calling it “highly unfortunate.” 

Rollins: “First of all, as the president said, when we left Trump One, we had an agriculture trade surplus.” 

Fact check: The U.S. ran an agriculture trade deficit in 2019 for the first time since 1959. The deficit hit a record high in the first half of 2025 — a shift that began during Trump’s first trade war with China, and one that has only increased in his second term. 

Rollins: “We are moving into an era of rural prosperity, of a golden age for our farmers in America. The trade renegotiations and the trade realignment that Jameson and Scott and Howard is unlike anything that’s happened in the history of our country. And those that will benefit the most are the original Americans, our farmers and our ranchers.” Fact Check: Trump’s economy is screwing over farmers and driving family farms out of business. Many farmers are on the brink of bankruptcy, and the agricultural sector is in recession. Meanwhile, 338 rural hospitals are at risk of closing because of Trump’s billionaire-first budget — and some have already shuttered.