Just weeks into Donald Trump’s presidency, farmers across the country are already sounding the alarm over the economic turmoil hitting their industry. Now, one Kansas farmer has a blunt message for those who supported Trump: You did this to yourselves.
Ben Palen, a longtime farmer, isn’t mincing words. In a scathing critique, he calls out his fellow agricultural workers for not doing their homework before casting their votes. With Trump’s administration slashing aid programs, rattling global markets with tariff threats, and fueling uncertainty, Palen warns that farmers are on the brink of a disaster they helped create.
Broken Promises, Economic Turmoil
Trump campaigned on promises of deregulation and prosperity for America’s farmers. Instead, his policies have left them navigating tighter margins and rising costs, with export markets thrown into disarray. According to Palen, foreign buyers are quickly looking elsewhere to source their crops, unwilling to gamble on an unpredictable U.S. government.
“We are now living and working in an environment where the only constant is chaos,” he writes. “Chaos produces uncertainty, and that leads to loss of trust. The buyers of U.S. farm products are not going to deal with nations that cannot be trusted.”
A Political Irony Too Big to Ignore
Perhaps the most bitter pill for farmers to swallow? Some Republican lawmakers are now scrambling to defend Trump’s economic policies—while simultaneously offering empty reassurances to struggling farmers. But Palen isn’t buying it.
One of the biggest blows, he points out, is the dismantling of USAID, which purchases around $2 billion worth of U.S. farm products annually. That loss alone is a massive hit, and he warns that waiting for government assistance under this administration is a fool’s errand.
“My fellow farmers—you’ve been played,” he declares. “This nation cannot exist as an island. But that is the path this administration is on.”
With markets shifting, aid disappearing, and costs rising, farmers who put their faith in Trump are facing a harsh reality—one that some, like Palen, believe was entirely avoidable.
