Tariff-ravaged farmers exhausted with Trump using them as 'pawns': report

Donald Trump faces growing fury among farmers who, despite a promised bailout, fear they may face bankruptcy regardless of additional administration assistance.

In interviews with the Washington Post, farmers express quiet frustration over tariffs that have devastated their operations. One farmer who voted for Trump three times acknowledged, "For the most part, farmers — we've been willing to kind of go along. But I don't know about now."

According to Post reporter Cleve R. Wootson Jr., the $11 billion bailout represents a tacit admission that a year of Trump policies have destabilized the agricultural industry and threatened farmers' financial survival.

Iowa farmer Aaron Lehman, representing the fifth generation of his family in agriculture, expressed frustration: "What we're seeing right now is we've broken all of the trade structures without a real plan to put it back together in the right way. Farmers are willing to be a part of the solution, but I don't think they're willing just to be a pawn in a trade war that has no path or plan to get to true reform. That's the disappointing part, because we're not getting close to a fairer path."

Chad Hart, an agricultural economics professor at Iowa State University, warned that assistance is arriving too late to prevent further damage. "The hope for a quick turnaround is now gone. If you're holding out hope, that hope is now, at best, looking like it won't come until a year to three years down the road."

Tom Adam, president of the Iowa Soybean Association, concurred with Hart's assessment. "It's probably not going to be enough. It's not going to make a farmer wealthy by any means. And there will be some farms that may not make it through. Everyone's in a little different financial situation, but you can't rescue everyone. I've heard from many that are saying this could be their last year. Whether it's bankruptcy or whether they want to just try something else."

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