President Donald Trump is facing serious backlash right now over the possibility of a beef trade deal with Argentina that’s meant to bring down prices at US grocery stores. Instead, it has American farmers feeling completely betrayed. He’s been publicly mulling over the idea of starting to import beef from Argentina, stating that even buying “not talking about that much” beef would “help Argentina, which we consider a very good country, a very good ally.”
To be fair, bringing down grocery prices for the average American family sounds great, but even the idea of this deal is causing a massive uproar among rural Americans and ranchers who already feel misled by the supposedly “America First” administration. This news only got worse when a reporter had the guts to question the President about the massive backlash, per DailyDot.
When she asked, “What do you have to say to U.S. farmers who feel that the deal is benefiting Argentina more than it does them—” he cut her off in a truly condescending way. “Look, Argentina’s fighting for its life, young lady,” he shot back, adding, “You don’t know anything about it. They’re fighting for their life.” I honestly can’t believe the tone he took there. He tried to claim that “nothing’s benefiting Argentina” and that he just wants to “help them survive in a free world.”
Trump wants to help his friends more than US citizens
Trump let slip what I think is his true motivation: “I happen to like the president of Argentina,” he admitted. “I think he’s trying to do the best he can. But don’t make it sound like they’re doing great. They’re dying, alright? They’re dying.”
This whole exchange makes the situation feel incredibly personal for him, putting his preferred “great philosophy” above the struggles of the very people who feel like he should be prioritizing them. American farmers are angry about dealing with a raw deal, especially since the trade wars kicked off. China, which used to be the largest buyer of US soybeans, has halted its purchases and is now sourcing those soybeans from countries like Brazil and, you guessed it, Argentina. The entire situation for the US agriculture sector has been feeling like a major headwind for a while now.
China stopped buying U.S. soybeans to protest Trump’s tariffs. Mr. Trump plans to send billions of tariff revenue to U.S. soybean farmers who lost markets. Argentina will sell more of its own soybeans to China — yet Mr. Trump is planning to bail out Argentina, too. MAGA logic
— Dr. Bpic.twitter.com/tFGq2PFKhr
(@EPersuader) October 21, 2025
Adding insult to injury, the Trump administration went ahead and authorized a $20 billion currency swap for Argentina while the US agriculture sector continues to struggle with trade disruptions and market uncertainty. It’s becoming clear that this help is totally motivated by his ideological allyship with Argentina’s President, Javier Milei.
He recently said he was “Just helping a great philosophy take over a great country,” and even warned that US financial support would drop if Argentinian politics shifted left. Farm Action’s Senior Director of Programs, Christian Lovell, said in a press release that, “President Trump’s plan to buy beef from Argentina is a betrayal of the American rancher.” and it’s hard to disagree.
