Donald Trump has found a whole new way to screw his own supporters
Think of it like this: what the unbeatable team of Betsy DeVos and lax gun laws have done for schools, Trump’s idiotic trade war with China and climate change have done for Midwest American farms. In fact, record numbers of farms have gone bankrupt thanks to the tariffs, and global warming has brought the Midwest the wettest twelve months in recorded history. In what is being called “Farm-ageddon,” Farms in the states of Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Michigan have all suffered the most. All those states, except Illinois, went to Trump in 2016.
Purdue University recently commissioned a study that has found that farmers are becoming increasingly pessimistic about their futures. They cite losses from both Trump’s trade war and the current weather conditions. It has triggered a record number of bankruptcies among the people Trump calls, “my patriot farmers.”
Due to this double whammy on farming, vast fields remain unplanted in a catastrophe that promises to have worldwide implications. Trump has made no mention of the flooding – he’s too busy tweeting complaints about the mayor of London and calling the New York Times the “enemy of the people” — but Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is seeking a federal disaster declaration for more government funds. Only 50% of the state’s corn crop and 32% of its soybean crop had been planted as of a few days ago because of relentless rains and flooding.
Trump idolaters have routinely pointed to the strong economy and excellent unemployment as “proof” of Trump’s success as president. But since Barack Obama handed him both, and Trump is in the process of wrecking the economy, it won’t be long before Trump enthusiasts will only have low unemployment to point to. But, not to worry, Trump will find a way to destroy that too.
As to global warming? Trump is all over it. Recently in an Axios interview, Trump acknowledged that the climate has changed, but “will it change back? Probably, that’s what I think.” Well, that’s a relief. I was starting to get worried.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.