Trump's Tariffs Are Hurting The People Who Voted For Him

President Donald Trump listens to a question from a reporter as he speaks after signing an executive order regarding TikTok in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Washington. Donald Trump’s policies are screwing over a core part of his base — again. The nation is only a few days into a government shutdown, with no clear end in sight. As Democrats and Republicans spar over funding demands, hundreds of thousands of civil servants have been furloughed, including half of the nearly 86,000 employees at the US Department of Agriculture. The essential functions of the agency, like food inspections, will continue. However, other programs, such as the Farm Service Agency, which is responsible for distributing loans and financial aid to farmers, will be forced to furlough two-thirds of its employees. For some US farmers — a group that Trump claims to champion — the shutdown, combined with one of the president’s central policies, couldn’t have come at a worse time. The agriculture business can be volatile, as bad weather, pests, and disease can significantly reduce the amount of money a grower will bring in. Normally, the USDA would be tasked with easing some of the economic pain for farmers through various programs. The agency provides loans, offers disaster assistance and makes other payments. USDA also plays a role in international trade agreements and negotiations. However, all those programs and negotiations are now on hold. This time, the financial hit is purely political. “The tariffs are an insult to injury,” Paul Mitchell, a professor of agriculture and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told HuffPost. On the campaign trail, the president spoke endlessly about enacting tariffs, a type of tax on goods imported from other countries that consumers eventually pay. When he returned to power in January, he began zealously pursuing the policy, including by slapping massive tariffs on China, one of our biggest trade partners.He assured farmers, who rely on China to purchase their crops, that this would be a financial boon. “Our farmers are going to have a field day,” he said in March during a joint address to Congress. “...to our farmers, have a lot of fun, I love you.”But while Trump has been bragging about how tariffs are making the US extremely wealthy, China has made its own move: imposing its own tariffs on the United States, sparking a trade war and causing the price of everyday items like toys and clothing, many of which are manufactured in China, to jump. Additionally, the Chinese government is now refusing to buy soybeans from the United States — a significant blow to the farming community.“Corn and soybeans dominate US agriculture. It’s half of the country’s crop revenue,” Mitchell said. “China buys about 60% of the world’s traded soybean,” he added. “So, when China says they’re not buying our soybean that really hurts our exports.”During the 2024 soybean season, which typically runs from September to February or March, China purchased $12.6 billion worth of soybeans from the United States, according to an analysis by the New York Times. This season, that number is $0.Trump, at least, knows there’s a problem. “The Soybean Farmers of our Country are being hurt because China is, for ‘negotiating’ reasons only, not buying,” he wrote on Truth Social. He has suggested a bailout for farmers, stating that the aid could be funded by the revenue generated from tariffs. So far, Trump’s tariffs have raked in more than $188 billion, which is nowhere near enough to replace federal income taxes as Trump has suggested.It’s a belated attempt at softening the blow for a constituency that Trump looks to as part of his base.An Investigate Midwest analysis of the 2024 election found that nearly 78% of farming-dependent counties voted for Trump. In Iowa, which is the second-largest soybean producer in the country, Trump beat Kamala Harris by 14 points. “More than 75 million Americans — including many farmers — voted for President Trump in 2024. Many of his priorities — from reducing wasteful spending and cutting regulatory red tape to expanding biofuels — are widely supported in rural America,” Iowa Soybean Association President Tom Adam, said on Thursday in a lengthy statement. “But the administration’s trade strategy has been a bitter pill for agriculture and Iowa farmers.”While farmers wait for assistance, Trump and Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, are looking for ways to punish Democrats for the shutdown and pin the blame on their political opponents. The Trump administration has threatened to permanently lay off government staffers as punishment for the shutdown, including those at the USDA. Even though Republican senators are reportedly uneasy with the prospect of doing something so politically toxic, Vought told agencies to prepare plans to permanently lay off workers in the event of a shutdown.On Thursday, Senate majority leader Senator John Thune (Republican, South Dakota) acknowledged that the shuttering of offices at USDA would, once again, impact farmers, including those in his state, who already needed help. Trump won South Dakota by 20 points.“They’re being put into a situation where they’re going to have to make decisions that are not good for some of the constituencies that people represent out there,” he said about the Trump administration.But Trump has sought to shield his own priorities from shutdown fallout. According to Politico, the administration has ensured government departments involved in immigration and trade — his pet issues — are relatively unscathed during the shutdown.The White House responded to HuffPost’s request for comment first with a boilerplate automatic reply blaming the press office’s staff shortage on the “Democrat Shutdown,” following up with another email referring HuffPost to the USDA. The agriculture department also sent a similar automatic reply blaming “Radical Left Democrat shutdown” for any delays.Then the agency sent HuffPost a lengthy statement continuing to blame the Democrats for the shutdown and linking to which programs are still functioning during the shutdown. “The Democrats are blocking billions in disaster relief payments from reaching farmers – relief they voted for. Senate Democrats shut down the government on the eve of one of the worst farm economies,” a USDA spokesperson said. “America’s farmers and producers are left stranded because the Democrats are prioritizing billions in healthcare for illegal immigrants and transgender surgeries.”The Republican Party has repeatedly and baselessly claimed that the Democrats want to fund health care for undocumented immigrants.In the meantime, Republicans are assuring farmers that help is coming, while not explicitly mentioning why exactly farmers need help. US Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins acknowledged the pain farmers were feeling on Tuesday. “Right now, the farm economy is not in a good place. We’re working around the clock,” she said during an interview on Fox Business. “The president has committed to supporting our farmers, and we’ll have an announcement on that very soon, likely next week.”She was likely alluding to Trump’s proposed bailout, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also said to expect news on the bailout next week. Trump is reportedly weighing aid to the tune of $10 billion.“The farmers will take the money, but they’re upset,” Mitchell said. “They’re wondering why we can’t just have a fair market.”It’s not the first time Trump’s trade war has led to economic pain for the country’s agriculture sector. During his first term, the Trump administration shelled out $16 billion in aid to farmers stuck in the middle of his trade war with China in 2019.Trump has for years insisted that he loves farmers, but he’s got a funny way of showing it.While soybean growers are feeling the financial pressure, Bessent was touting a bailout — but to Argentina, which recently sold a large amount of soybean to China at a discounted rate. The Trump administration views the country as an ally since the election of Javier Milei, a right-wing former pundit who advocates for hardline immigration policies and unfettered capitalism.“Argentina is a systemically important US ally in Latin America, and the @USTreasury stands ready to do what is needed within its mandate to support Argentina. All options for stabilization are on the table,” Bessent posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, late last month. The bailout is reportedly set to be a $20 billion aid package. Senator Chuck Grassley (Republican, Iowa), who represents a state with a lot of soybean farmers, wasn’t pleased. “Why would USA help bail out Argentina while they take American soybean producers’ biggest market???” Senator Chuck Grassley (Republican, Iowa) said on X. “We shld use leverage at every turn to help hurting farm economy Family farmers shld be top of mind in negotiations by representatives of USA”And some farmers are speaking out specifically against Trump’s trade policies.“Agriculture is our foundation here in Nebraska and many states in the Midwest,” one farmer who produces corn and soybeans told ABC News. “If agriculture is failing here, everything is going to fail.”There is unlikely to be a big rebellion amongst farmers in MAGA country — Trump’s last tariff debacle during his first term, when he similarly imposed a levy on Chinese goods, causing the country to retaliate, didn’t seem to dissuade farmers from voting for him. And the Republican senators worried about their constituencies seem unwilling to place the blame directly on Trump. But Mitchell says farmers are now quietly rethinking the Trump administration’s strategies. “We already have enough problems,” as he puts it. “Why are you making more for us?”Related...A Checked-Out Trump Posts Childish Memes As The US Government Shutdown ContinuesTrump Gives Ominous Warning As He Says Hamas Must 'Move Quickly' To Free HostagesScreen Icon Richard Gere Tears Into 'Crazy' Trump: 'He's A Dark, Dark Presence'

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