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President Donald Trump on Monday announced a whopping multi-billion-dollar aid package that will affect a key demographic of American workers and potentially provide economic relief for a nation still recovering from Biden-era wounds.
During a roundtable discussion at the White House, the president announced that his administration would be giving a “small portion of the hundreds of billions of dollars we receive in tariffs” to American farmers.
This bailout package will total an eye-popping $12 billion, according to the president, and provide “economic assistance” to the American agricultural community.
“These direct payments will give producers the breathing room they need to market this year’s harvest and plan for next season,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
He added, “Thanks to the administration’s pro-growth policies, input costs like fuel and fertilizer are easing, and credit conditions are improving, interest rates are coming down, helping farmers prepare for the next harvest.”
Secretary Bessent said the American farmers are also being greatly aided by key economic agreements the president made with Chinese President Xi Jinping this year, which have allowed Americans to bring their agricultural goods to Asian markets.
“Under this framework, China committed to purchase at least 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans this growing season, followed by a minimum of 25 million tons annually for the next three years,” Secretary Bessent said.
He thanked President Trump for “putting America first by putting your farmers first, through[a] pro-growth, pro-farmer agenda. You’re ushering in a new Golden Age of American agriculture, and the Treasury is proud to help in this.”
The aid package is designed to help farmers who have been hit hard by the waffling effects of tariff restrictions and trade wars over the past year as President Trump has negotiated America First deals on the country’s behalf.
“The lack of new trade deals under the last Administration turned a trade surplus under Trump into a $50 billion trade deficit, causing our farmers to lose markets and feel acute pain from lower commodity prices,” USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins explained in an official statement. “President Trump will not let our farmers be left behind, so he directed our team to build a bridge program to see quick relief while the President’s dozens of new trade deals and new market access take effect.”
According to the USDA, of the $12 billion provided in this bailout, $11 billion will be used for the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program, “which provides broad relief to United States row crop farmers who produce Barley, Chickpeas, Corn, Cotton, Lentils, Oats, Peanuts, Peas, Rice, Sorghum, Soybeans, Wheat, Canola, Crambe, Flax, Mustard, Rapeseed, Safflower, Sesame, and Sunflower.”
Farmers who qualify for relief payments will see those checks released by February 28, 2026, the agency said.