Raw Story

An American farmer made a dire plea to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, saying "hope he's listening," as America's "backbone" risks collapse.

Arkansas farmer Scott Brown told CNN it's unclear how he or other agriculture producers will survive Trump's ongoing tariff war, especially as the fall harvest begins.

"I hope to break even, but I mean, we don't know," Brown said. "We're not cutting soybeans yet, and I don't know what the yield is. We're just finishing up corn. I'm a pretty low-debt-load farmer. I farm 800 acres. My equipment's all paid for. I do it all by myself. I'm a first-generation farmer, so I don't have as big of problems as a lot of the guys do. But, I mean, I have friends that farm thousands of acres, 5,000, 10,000, 11,000 acres. They've got worlds of problems. I mean, I don't know that there's any way to yield yourself out of this."

For his friends, the tariff fallout could mean losing everything.

"I don't think that the average American understands when you go down to the bank and get a crop loan, you put all your equipment up, all your equity in your ground, you put your home up, your pickup truck, everything up," he said. "And if they can't pay out and if they've rolled over any debt from last year, they're going to call the auctioneer and they're going to line everything up and they're going to sell it."

Trump is reportedly considering a potential bailout for farmers, a key Republican voting bloc. But that's not enough, Scott said.

"Well, the stopgap needs to come because they've kind of painted the farmer in a corner," he added. "I mean, I want trade, not aid. I need a market. I need a place to sell this stuff. I can work hard enough and make a product. If you give me someplace to sell it, I'll take care of myself, but they've painted us in a corner with this China deal and China buying soybeans. I mean, they've torn a market in half."

China — the biggest buyer — has made zero soybean orders this year. Instead, they've pivoted to purchasing soybeans from South American countries, including Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia. These countries plan to expand planting acreage for their crops and focus on planting soon for the 2025 and 2026 crops in the Southern Hemisphere.

The price per bushel of soybeans has also dropped, he added.

"The farmer can't continue to produce a crop below the cost of production. And that's where we're at. And we don't have anywhere to sell it. We're in a tariff war with China. We're in a tariff war with everybody else. I mean, where do they want me to market this stuff?" Scott asked.

This uncertainty also makes it hard to plan for 2026.

"Farming is done in a Russian roulette fashion to say a better set of words," Scott said. "If you pay out, then you get to go again. If you've got enough equity and you don't pay out, you can roll over debt. There's lots of guys farming that have between $400 and $700,000 worth of rollover debt. You know, and then and then you compound the problem with the tariffs. Look at this. When we had USAID, we provided 40% of the humanitarian food for the world. That's all grain and food bought from farmers, from vegetable farmers in the United States. The row crop farmers and grain and everything. So we abandoned that deal. And China accelerates theirs. So now I've got a tariff war that's killing my market."

He also wants the president to hear his message.

"I hope he's listening because, you know, agriculture is the backbone of rural America," Scott said. "For every dollar in agriculture, you get $8 in your rural community. I mean, we help pay taxes on schools, roads. We're the guys that keep the park store open, we're the guy that keeps the local co-op open, that 20 guys work at, and the little town I live in, we have a chicken plant, about 600 chicken houses, except for the school and the hospital. Almost our entire town of 7,000."

Agriculture is tied to everything in rural America, he explained.

"People's economy revolves around agriculture," Scott said. "I mean, I think he needs to listen. It's bigger than the farmer. It's all my friends. Whether they work in town or anything else. I mean, rural America depends on agriculture. And it doesn't matter if you're in Nebraska or you're in Arkansas."

As the federal government shutdown rages on, Republicans in Congress have a new headache to worry about as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) clashes with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) about whether to convene to pass an emergency extension of pay for troops.

The shutdown has no end in sight, with Democrats demanding an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that stabilize millions of people's insurance premiums as a condition of their votes, and Republicans refusing to negotiate on this matter until the government reopens.

According to Politico, "the unusual tactical disagreement between the two top congressional leaders played out in front of cameras Tuesday on Capitol Hill as the shutdown heads into its second week."

Johnson, who has not convened the House in days, told reporters this week, “I’m certainly open to that. We’ve done it in the past. We want to make sure that our troops are paid.”

Thune, however, disagreed, saying, “Honestly, you don’t need that.”

“Obviously, there are certain constituencies — many of them are going to be impacted in a very negative way by what’s happened here. But the simplest way to end it is not try to exempt this group or that one or that group. It’s to get the government open," he added.

In Thune's view, Republicans should hold firm and not even call the House back until Democrats in the Senate agree to pass the funding bill the House already passed.

Further complicating the issue is that House Republicans have avoided swearing in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ). Grijalva is the final vote needed for a Trump-opposed bipartisan discharge petition for the House to compel the Trump administration to release the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case files.

But as a consequence of the House's inaction, noted policy analyst Matthew Yglesias, this inaction is also to the GOP's detriment, as with the House gone, they are incapable of forcing messaging votes to try to shift blame for the shutdown onto Democrats.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem prayed for a "hedge of protection" around federal agents while meeting at an official Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.

According to MAGA influencer Benny Johnson, Noem began a meeting at the Portland ICE office with a prayer to Jesus Christ.

In her prayer, Noem asked God to give her agency "wisdom and discernment to make the best decisions not just for the people that are here enforcing the law but also for the citizens of this country."

"And Lord, I just ask you to continue to put a hedge of protection around these officers, keep them safe, Lord, but that also that you continue to bless each and every one of them and their families," she continued. "And Lord, that you would protect the freedoms that we all enjoy that we're given to us by you."

"We love you, we praise you," she concluded. "Amen."

According to Johnson, the prayer was the "first thing" Noem did upon arriving at the office.

"We are witnessing incredible things," he wrote on X.

U.S. Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO) called for President Donald Trump and his senior administration officials to treat House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer in the same manner they treated Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this year when they appeared to gang up on and berate the Ukrainian president.

Trump has not met with the Democratic leaders since he took office in January, and canceled a meeting with them slated for last week. They will be meeting in the Oval Office on Monday afternoon to discuss ways to avert a federal government shutdown at midnight on Tuesday.

Alford, a member of the far-right Republican Study Committee, told NewsNation on Monday, “Let’s give them a little taste of what we gave Zelenskyy back in the spring.”

READ MORE: ‘Tone-Deaf’: Mass Shootings Rock U.S. as Trump Brags About Oval Office Gold

Trump has falsely claimed that Democrats are “threatening” to shut down the government “unless they can have over $1 Trillion Dollars in new spending to continue free healthcare for Illegal Aliens.”

He, also wrongly, has claimed Democrats want to “force Taxpayers to fund Transgender surgery for minors, have dead people on the Medicaid roles, allow Illegal Alien Criminals to steal Billions of Dollars in American Taxpayer Benefits, try to force our Country to again open our Borders to Criminals and to the World, allow men to play in women’s sports, and essentially create Transgender operations for everybody.”

Alford echoed some of those allegations in his Monday remarks.

“So, this is what they wanted, all this crazy spending, going back to the woke policies and giving illegal aliens health care. Trump said, ‘There’s no way, why should I meet with them?'” Alford said.

“I think, over the last couple of days, he’s rethought that. Let’s bring them into the Oval Office. Let’s give them a little taste of what we gave Zelenskyy back in the spring,” the Missouri Republican declared.

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“This is going to be live viewing, I believe, in the Oval Office,” Alford said, “like you’ve never seen before, maybe an hour-long meeting, and the American people can see for themselves the ridiculous request and demands as the Democrats hold them hostage.”

Jeffries on Monday told reporters, “We’re headed into the meeting [with Trump] to have a good faith negotiation about landing the plane in a way that avoids a government shutdown but does not continue the Republican assault on the healthcare of the American people.”

Democrats are “using one of their few points of leverage to demand Congress take up legislation to extend health care benefits,” PBS News reported. “Trump has shown little interest in entertaining Democrats’ demands on health care, even as he agreed to hold a sit-down meeting Monday with Schumer, along with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. The Republican president has said repeatedly he fully expects the government to enter a shutdown this week.”

READ MORE: Shutdown Meltdown: Trump Hits Democrats With ‘Transgender for Everybody’ Charge

A high-ranking Republican is blaming Democrats over a looming government shutdown.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) penned an opinion piece for The Washington Post on Monday, claiming that leaders must avert a spending crisis with a bipartisan appropriations process and claiming "Democrats are holding government funding hostage to a long list of partisan demands, totaling more than $1 trillion. And they’re ready to shut down the government if Republicans don’t comply."

Thune was among a group of leaders slated to meet Monday with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, which includes House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).

This closed-door meeting is just hours before the Oct. 1 deadline. A White House official described this as a make-or-break moment. It's also the first time Trump will meet with the Democratic leaders since he took office eight months ago.

Thune argues that "Republicans are open to discussion and negotiation on a number of issues."

"But there’s a difference between careful discussion and negotiation during the appropriations process and taking government funding hostage to jam more than $1 trillion in big-government spending in a funding bill designed to last mere weeks," Thune writes. "Major decisions should not be made in haste. And they certainly shouldn’t be made because one party is threatening to shut down the government if it doesn’t get its way."

As Republicans urge Democrats to accept the bill, Democratic leaders have pushed back against cuts to healthcare.

Affordable Care Act subsidies are set to expire this year. And without an extension, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that more than 4 million people will lose healthcare over the next 10 years.

Thune claims that "Democrats have decided to abandon the process."

President Donald Trump stood with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and announced a new ceasefire proposal and peace plan, but critics couldn't help but notice it's missing some critical pieces — namely, that a key party is missing.

Steve Herman, executive director at the Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy and Innovation, quoted Trump's comment, "Everyone else has accepted it."

"Except Hamas, according to President Trump, explaining his plan calls for a 'Board of Peace' to be headed by himself," said Herman.

It prompted national security lawyer Bradly P. Moss to remark, "So, you know, a peace plan missing a vital party."

"The new official Trump plan for Gaza. Quite a few things to parse out, including accountability mechanisms, who actually makes up the stabilisation force, and what mandate they would have," said Dr. H.A. Hellyer, a geopolitics and security expert on the Middle East and Europe at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.

Even senior Washington Examiner writer David Harsanyi had questions: "This plan has been tried more than once. Palestinians have never been able to meet #1."

Bloomberg's Washington Correspondent Josh Wingrove couldn't help but notice that the plan, "previously described as a '21-point plan,'" now "includes 20 points and an image of proposed withdrawals."

"The points include a call for Gaza's governance to be supervised by a 'Board of Peace' - chaired by Trump himself," added Wingrove.

White House columnist Niall Stanage, at "The Hill," also questioned, "It runs to 20 points but how will point 1 — upon which all else may hinge — be defined or verified and by whom?"

"If Trump is to be the head of the newly established transitional administration in Gaza, it means Gaza is becoming a mandate of the USA. Blair is the Mandate Governor," observed Tuğçe Varol, an academic working on Russian and Turkish foreign policy.