Trump’s Treasury Secretary Is Making Wild Claims To Try To Relate To You

American farmers who grow soybeans are going through a tough time right now. The trade fight between President Trump and China has stopped all soybean sales to China. This is a huge deal because China usually buys more American soybeans than any other country. Last year alone, Chinese buyers paid $12.64 billion for soybeans from the U.S. Now that number is at zero.

According to The Hill, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent thinks he understands what farmers are dealing with. He went on This Week on Sunday and told viewers something surprising. Bessent said, “In case you don’t know it, I’m actually a soybean farmer. So, I have felt this pain too.”

But here’s the thing about Bessent’s claim. He’s worth about $600 million. He made his money working at a hedge fund. He does own farmland in North Dakota where corn and soybeans are grown. That land is worth somewhere between $5 million and $25 million. But Bessent doesn’t actually farm it himself. He rents it out to other people who do the actual farming work. That rental deal brings him between $100,000 and $1 million every year.

This Guy Is Worth $600 Million And Wants Us To Think He Gets It

Bessent just got back from Malaysia where he met with Chinese officials. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Secretary of State Marco Rubio went with him. They sat down with Li Chenggang and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng to talk about the trade war.

Things have gotten really rough for soybean farmers. China didn’t just stop buying from America. They went and bought over 1 million tons of soybeans from Argentina instead. That happened right after America promised to give Argentina $20 billion in aid.

Bessent says the talks in Malaysia covered what American soybean farmers need. He told reporters that when a trade deal finally gets done, “our soybean farmers will feel very good about what’s going on both for this season and the coming seasons for several years.”

Trump plans to sit down with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea this Thursday. The meeting could be big for fixing the trade problems that have hurt American farmers. Trump has recently ended trade talks with Canada as well, making the trade situation even more complicated. The way Bessent farms is nothing like how real farmers do it. 

He collects rent checks while someone else does all the work. Most farmers in America get up early, work their own land, and live off whatever money their crops bring in. When soybean prices crash or sales disappear, they feel it right away in their bank accounts. Many farming families are now facing serious money troubles because of lost sales to China. The Trump administration has been dealing with other headaches lately, like problems getting nominees confirmed in recent weeks.