President Donald Trump has taken to social media to declare his support for farmers, but they’ll have to wait for clarity on when they might get payments in compensation for his trade war. 

“Relief is being considered,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in the briefing room on Tuesday. She added that Ag Secreetary Brooke Rollins has spoken to Trump about the issue. 

The comments differed in tone from Rollins’ own remarks to Fox News on Sunday, when she stressed a tariff safety net “will be there” for U.S. producers. 

Take note: Trump touted the support his administration gave ag producers during his first term and the benefits of his phase one deal with China in a social media post on Tuesday. 

“The USA will PROTECT OUR FARMERS!!!” he wrote on Truth Social. 

But, but, but:  A new U.S.-China deal may still be some way off. Leavitt read a statement from the president during the media briefing that said the “ball is in China’s court” right now. “China needs to make a deal with us. We don't have to make a deal with them,” she said. 

By the way: South Dakota GOP Sen. Mike Rounds recently told Agri-Pulse USDA won’t have enough money to compensate farmers this time. He also expressed doubts that there will be the necessary political support to limit payments to farmers. Rounds made his remark shortly before Trump paused his global reciprocal tariffs for 90 days and raised duties on China. 

“It's good that they're recognizing that there is a problem, but the size of the bailout that would have to be imposed is significant, and at a time in which we're running $37 trillion in debt,” he said. 

For more on Trump’s tariffs and their impact on farmers, check out our weekly newsletter today. We also report on the budget challenges facing Republicans. 

Legal challenges to emergency tariffs mount 

A legal group is asking the Court of International Trade to strike down the president’s “Liberation Day” tariffs over what it said is a bogus emergency declaration. 

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The president used emergency powers to impose a 10% across-the-board tariff as well as higher duties for specific countries on April 2. The president can use such powers to address an “unusual and extraordinary threat.” 

“The administration’s justification — a trade deficit in goods — is neither an emergency nor an unusual or extraordinary threat,” the Liberty Justice Center said in a statement announcing the filing. In its complaint, the group argued the emergency is “a figment of his own imagination.” 

The Liberty Justice Center is the litigation arm of the conservative Illinois Policy Institute.

The group is filing the case on behalf of five businesses that they argue have been hurt by the tariffs. The case is the first legal challenge to the president’s reciprocal tariffs, but the administration is also being sued over the emergency declaration used to impose tariffs on China. 

State SNAP waiver requests likely to increase

More waiver requests from states wanting to restrict soda and candy purchases through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are likely to follow Tuesday’s announcements in Arkansas and Indiana.

While those two states are the first to ask for waivers, leaders and lawmakers in several other states indicated they will file their own requests soon. 

Rollins was in Arkansas and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Indiana to celebrate the developments and promote the Make America Healthy Again agenda. 

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However, industry groups are raising alarms about the potential patchwork of programs, and the unintended consequences state waivers could create.

What they’re saying: 

The National Grocers Association is urging policymakers to consider the potential impact of these SNAP restrictions to small, independent grocers that are more vulnerable to even slight disruptions in store operations. They also are pushing USDA and state agencies to provide guidance, training and communication to grocers to limit disruptions for SNAP recipients while waivers are in effect. 

Take note: The American Beverage Association blasted the waiver request, criticizing Rollins and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders for “choosing to be the food police” instead of taking meaningful action to help SNAP recipients move away from the program. 

Rollins pushed back on the group’s statement on social media: 

“It’s disappointing that the American Beverage Association's leadership dragged its entire membership — and the patriotic American workers and their families they employ and represent — into direct conflict with this administration’s priorities for American health, well-being, and taxpayer protection,” she wrote in a post on X. 

Take note: Also on Tuesday, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed a bill that requires the state to submit an application for a SNAP waiver restricting soda and candy purchases. Little’s administration said in a release it is committed to securing the waiver soon.

USDA triggers sugar safeguard to protect domestic industry 

USDA has triggered a mechanism to protect domestic producers in the face of rising imports of sugar-rich products.

From Wednesday through Sept. 30, products with more than 65% sugar content will face new tariffs, in addition to any duties already applied. International trade rules allow the U.S. to impose tariffs when imports surpass 1,252 metric tons in a given year. 

Report: Trump considering major program and staffing cuts at USDA

Government Executive, a news site focused on the federal government, says a budget passback document from the Office of Management and Budget to suggests cuts to program budgets “nearly across the board” and staff reductions. The document outlines the administration’s goals for fiscal 2026.

The article says the plan includes consolidating the agency’s “local, county-based offices around the country into state committees that would service the FSA, NRCS and Rural Development.”

GovExec also reported possible elimination of Forest Service forest and rangeland research as well as a $773 million cut to NRCS Private Lands Conservation Operations, with some offsets.

Final word

“These priorities — which those same American workers voted to endorse — will prevail.” – Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins, responding to the American Beverage Association’s criticism of pending SNAP soda bans.

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