Trump touts economic agenda at White House event with farmers

Donald Trump headlined an event with farmers at the White House. Accompanied by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, the president made some productive announcements and touted his economic agenda in a speech dedicated to benefits for farmers and agricultural producers across the country.

Since his return to the White House in January 2025, Trump adopted several measures to favor farmers. Among them are the elimination and relaxation of environmental and labor regulations that made production more expensive, the expansion of access to water for irrigation and the acceleration of oil and gas projects to make energy cheaper.

In addition, through the approval of the 'Big Beautiful Bill', tax cuts for producers and agricultural companies, tax incentives for local production, and a reform of the subsidy system focused on small and medium-sized farms were implemented.

In his speech, the president harshly criticized the Biden Administration and reviewed some measures ahead of the mid-term elections, which will take place on November 3: "For four disastrous years before I took office, Sleepy Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress crushed America's farmers with the worst inflation in the history of our country. Prices were going through the roof so bad. It was so bad what they had done to our country. By the way, in so many other ways too, borders, everything else."

"They cripple the American agriculture industry with brutal restrictions and failed to negotiate even a single new trade deal on your behalf. Not one trade deal was negotiated on your behalf during the Biden administration. And we happen to be the exact opposite," he added.

In addition, Trump highlighted the impact of his trade deals on expanding agricultural exports, noting that U.S. soybean shipments to China topped $40 billion.

The president also gave space to some farmers to tell their first-person experience. One of them was Joel Viereck, a vegetable farmer from New Jersey. "We farm a few hundred acres where we specialize in Jersey fresh tomatoes. I do that along with my family. (...) I just wanna thank you again for just everything you're doing to make America great again," said Viereck, who also urged Congress to pass the new Farm Bill pushed by Trump and Republicans as soon as possible.

There was also room for some announcements in the speech. Specifically, the president told farmers that the Small Business Administration, led by Kelly Loeffler, would open new large-scale credit guarantees for food suppliers.

In addition, the president announced an emergency order to allow the immediate sale of E-15, a gasoline blend with 15% ethanol produced from corn, and said he would seek congressional authorization for its year-round marketing. The measure aims to lower the price of gasoline, since ethanol is usually cheaper than traditional fuels, but also seeks to increase the demand for corn.