Cattle ranchers across the nation reported feelings of confusion and betrayal this week after discovering that President Donald Trump, the man they overwhelmingly supported in 2024, has proposed solving high beef prices by importing meat from Argentina while simultaneously telling them they "don't understand" how tariffs work.
The ranchers, who have spent their entire lives raising cattle through droughts, market crashes, and a flesh-eating parasite invasion from Mexico, were reportedly stunned to learn that the former Manhattan real estate mogul might possess a different understanding of supply and demand than they do.
"I just don't get it," said Buck Wehrbein, president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, referring to Trump's plan to quadruple beef imports from a foreign competitor while telling American ranchers to lower their prices. "We voted for the guy who promised 'America First,' and now he's saying Argentina is 'fighting for its life' and we need to help them by destroying our own industry."
Trump defended his position Wednesday on Truth Social, explaining that ranchers are "doing so well, for the first time in decades" thanks to his tariffs, and therefore should be grateful while also somehow lowering their prices to make consumers happy. The president added that "it would be nice if they would understand that," presumably referring to the complex economic principle whereby ranchers should simultaneously profit from high prices and accept low prices.
The cattle industry, currently experiencing its lowest herd inventory since 1951 due to years of drought and rising costs, welcomed the president's reassurance that they are actually doing great and should simply rebuild their herds while accepting less money for their product.
"He's right, we just don't understand," said Illinois rancher Christian Lovell, who along with 100,000 other cattle producers has left the industry in the past decade. "Clearly the solution to Americans paying too much for beef is to import beef from South America right after giving Argentina $20 billion. It's so obvious now."
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association released a statement saying its members "cannot stand behind the President" on this issue, marking a rare moment of disagreement between Trump and a constituency that voted for him by overwhelming margins in rural America.
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