President Donald Trump is infuriating cattle ranchers across the United States after he complained that they should lower beef prices and that he might import foreign meat to bring prices down.
"The Cattle Ranchers, who I love, don't understand that the only reason they are doing so well, for the first time in decades, is because I put Tariffs on cattle coming into the United States, including a 50% Tariff on Brazil," Trump yelled at ranchers on Truth Social.
It hasn't gone over well with red-state ranchers who have supported Trump and MAGA.
"Cattlemen and women cannot stand behind President Trump while he undercuts the future of family farmers and ranchers by importing Argentinian beef. It is imperative that President Trump and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins let cattle markets work without interference," the National Cattlemen's Beef Association wrote on Facebook in response to Trump's Truth Social rant.
"If the administration is truly an ally of America’s cattle producers, we call on him to abandon this effort to manipulate markets and focus instead on completing the promised New World Screwworm facility in Texas; make additional investments that protect the domestic cattle herd from foreign animal diseases such as FMD; and address regulatory burdens, such as delisting of the gray wolf and addressing the scourge of black vultures," the association added.
They also urged members to sign their petition urging Congress to step in and stop Trump from importing beef from Argentina.
Buck Wehrbein, president of the association, told CNN, "The price is up because the herd is down. And so more supply will cause the price to go down. However, the problem is, as the president talks about this, his rhetoric is heard by our markets, like our futures markets, and they respond immediately and violently, which impacts us directly and immediately, but has no impact on the retail."
He went on to call Trump's comments "misguided."
"We understand what he's trying to do, but it's misguided because it's hurting us and not helping the consumer. It will take a long time for the price to come down in the grocery store," said Wehrbein.
"Let the market be the market. You know when it gets high enough, people will walk away and it'll start correcting itself," said one Nebraska rancher to MSNBC, angry over the government interfering in the market.
"We appreciate all he does, but being in the market is probably not something we're very anxious to have the government in," he said.
