Trump Announces $14.5B In “Direct Payments” To US Farmers, Claims The Money “All Comes From China”

The Washington Examiner reports:

The Trump administration said Thursday that it would provide $14.5 billion in “direct payments” to farmers as part of an aid package to offset the damage caused by the trade war with China. Another $1.4 billion would be allocated to purchase surplus agricultural commodities.

The assistance, which wouldn’t require congressional approval, would be the second aid package the Trump administration has given to farmers within the last year, having authorized $12 billion in farm aid last year.

President Trump said it was a necessary expenditure to push back against China’s policies and that “patriotic” farmers backed his effort. He argued that the U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods would cover the costs of the aid. “It all comes from China. We’ll being taking in hundreds of billions of dollars from China,” he said.

HAPPENING NOW: @realDonaldTrump is once again bragging about raising taxes on Americans.

“We will ensure that farmers get the relief they need.”

He’s also lying about the $16 billion in subsidies coming from tariffs paid by China, because China DOES NOT PAY TARIFFS.

— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) May 23, 2019

Ag Sec. Sonny Perdue said this a.m. that “China is going to pay” for a new $16 billion Trump admin farm aid package “through tariffs coming in.” (Tariffs are paid by U.S. consumers, not China.) https://t.co/KDwUjw6uUR

— Felicia Sonmez (@feliciasonmez) May 23, 2019

“It’s a good time to be a farmer, we’re going to make sure of that,” President Trump says, announcing $16 billion in aid to farmers as the trade war with China continues https://t.co/R4uWjKPx6r pic.twitter.com/1b3Q9yvexl

— CNN (@CNN) May 23, 2019

‘I’ll never vote for him again.’ — These farmers have finally turned on Trump pic.twitter.com/JDePPUUuMv

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 20, 2019

Trump just said the $16 billion he is giving to farmers is coming from China.

NO.

This is a lie. No other word for it.

It comes American taxpayers. Americans pay these tariffs, not China.

— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) May 23, 2019