Trump vowed to use some of the tariff money to help farmers
The Republican acknowledged that farmers could initially be hurt by his trade policies, which would boost the economic bailout.
Brooke Rollins and Donald Trump/ Jim Watson
Donald Trump assured that he will use some of the proceeds from the tariffs to help farmers. While answering questions in the Oval Office, the president referred to possible uses for the money that is coming into the country from his trade policy. However, he did not clarify what mechanism he would use to carry out this initiative.
Speaking to reporters during a visit with Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Republican acknowledged that farmers could initially be affected by his policies, which would drive this economic bailout.
"We’re going to take some of that tariff money that we made, and we’re going to give it to our farmers, who are, for a little while, going to be hurt until the tariffs kick into their benefit. So we’re going to make sure that our farmers are in great shape, because we’re taking in a lot of money.
Both Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and House Agriculture Committee Chairman GT Thompson (R-PA) spoke in favor of the plan. The proposal is expected to be part of the spending package to fund federal spending heading into 2026, which must be passed by Nov. 21 to avoid a government shutdown.
The debate over the use of the tariff money
According to Scott Bessent, Treasury secretary, the tariff revenue will be used primarily to pay down the national debt.
"I've been saying that tariff revenue could be $300 billion this year. I'm going to have to revise that substantially. We're going to bring down the deficit to GDP. We'll start paying down the debt, and then at that point that can be used as an offset to the American people," he said in mid-August, speaking on CNBC's 'Squawk Box' program.
Weeks later, Bessent raised his expectations with the tariffs, noting that they could generate revenues of $500 billion.
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