‘Farmers are sticking with Trump.’ President touts trade at farm convention in Austin.
President Donald Trump celebrated his recent trade deals Sunday before ranchers and farmers gathered at a convention for the nation’s largest farm group. But the Senate’s upcoming impeachment trial wasn’t far from his mind.
“The two momentous trade deals we completed last week are just the beginning of a really incredible story,” Trump said in reference to the Senate’s passage of the USMCA and the initial trade deal with China.
“And what do I get out it? Tell me. I get impeached, that’s what I get,” Trump said. “By these radical left lunatics, I get impeached. But that’s OK, the farmers are sticking with Trump.”
The president’s remarks came during the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual convention in Austin. It was Trump’s third consecutive year speaking at the event, and he vowed to return to the convention next year.
With Tuesday’s impeachment proceedings looming, Trump primarily focused on celebrating his two trade priorities that made gains last week during his roughly 45-minute speech.
On Thursday, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved a new North American trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, known as the USMCA, that would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. Its passage represents a step closer to Trump delivering on his campaign promise of renegotiating what he described Sunday as “the catastrophe, the disaster known as NAFTA.”
“I sign it very soon,” Trump said. “Everybody wants to come back to the United States. We’re now where the action is.”
And just a day before the USMCA’s passage out of the Senate, Trump signed an initial trade deal with China. In exchange for relaxed tariffs on Chinese imports, Beijing will commit to boosting the U.S. goods it purchases, including farm goods like soybeans, according to the Associated Press.
“The deal with China will tear down market barriers and pry open vast new markets” for American beef, pork, soybeans and more, Trump said.
Ahead of the president’s arrival in Austin, Trump touted the recent trade agreements, tweeting that farmers “hit ‘paydirt’ with our incredible new Trade Deals: CHINA, JAPAN, MEXICO, CANADA, SOUTH KOREA, and many others!”
“The big numbers, in my opinion, are yet to come,” Trump said Sunday, referring to spending by China.
Caught in the middle of Trump’s trade war with China that’s been ongoing since 2018 are U.S. farmers. While surveys have found the president has strong support from farmers, the Texas Democratic Party was critical of the president’s policies ahead of his visit.
“Trump’s trade wars, broken promises, and economic policies have failed farmers, time and time again. Under the Trump Administration, farm bankruptcies have substantially risen and hard-working families continue to get left behind,” Bill Brannon, the Texas Democratic Party’s senior rural adviser, said in a statement. “Texas farmers will be the reason why Trump loses Texas in 2020.”
It’s a group whose support Trump is relying on in his reelection bid, after recently dispensing billions of dollars in aid to farmers.
“Together, we prevailed. You were always with me,” Trump said to those gathered. “You never even thought of giving up.”
Trump also announced his plans to soon finalize the rollback of an Obama-administration proposal, the Waters of the United States rule, that expanded the definition of “navigable waters,” under the Clean Water Act.
“This authority rightfully belongs to the states, not the bureaucrats in Washington D.C. That is why I’m directing the Corps of Engineers to immediately withdraw the proposed rule just submitted recently — meaning last administration — and allow states to manage their water resources based on their own needs and based on what their farmers and ranchers want.”
“Water is the lifeblood of agriculture and we will always protect your water supply,” Trump said.
Trump also touted the 3.5% unemployment rate, a 50-year low that the president credited to the “Trump economy” and described as “a blue-collar boom.”
“The best days for America and the best days for America’s farmers and ranchers are yet to come,” Trump said. “We’re taking care of our country.”
And while the president focused on his trade policies, he mentioned some of his Democratic opponents vying for the presidency, calling Bernie Sanders a socialist, and referring to Elizabeth Warren as “a fake socialist” and mockingly referring to her as “Pocahontas” in relation to her past claims of Native American ancestry.
“The far left, they want to massively raise your taxes,” Trump said. “They want to load you up with regulations so you can’t live. You can’t breathe.”
Trump also touched on construction of the border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, estimating that by the end next year, more than 400 miles of the wall would be built.
Texas lawmakers and state leaders, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton, were in attendance. Trump’s speech came nearly two months after his most recent visit to Austin, where he toured an Apple manufacturing facility in November. It was his 14th visit to Texas since becoming president.
This story was originally published January 19, 2020 at 7:05 PM.
