Instead of protecting farmers as he promised, Trump keeps lying to them. After weeks of Trump lying about the status of Chinese agriculture purchases and telling farmers to buy more equipment and land to meet demand, the promised purchases have hit another snag — and again left farmers in the lurch.

Trump told farmers that China had committed to spending $50 billion on U.S. agricultural products — China hasn’t. 

Bloomberg: “Trade Talks Hit Bump as China Resists U.S. Demands on Agricultural Purchases”

Wall Street Journal: “Mr. Trump has said that China has agreed to buy up to $50 billion of soybeans, pork and other agricultural products from the U.S. annually. But China is leery of putting a numerical commitment in the text of an agreement, according to people familiar with the matter.”

…but that hasn’t stopped Trump from repeating this lie to farmers, over and over again.

Trump: “And we just made a deal for our farmers, where $40 billion to $50 billion of agricultural products are going to be bought by China. And they’re going to start now before we even sign the agreement. They’ve already started.”

Trump: “And now China is buying tremendous amounts of product — agricultural product. They’ve started.”

Trump: “Thanks to my tariffs, we will soon have over $100 billion from a country that didn’t want to do anything with us, and I will tell you they started buying our farm product; you see that.”

Trump told farmers they had to buy new equipment and land to meet the new export demand that he had made up.

Trump: “We’re talking about a $40 [billion] to $50 billion purchase and other things. I mean, it’s an incredible deal for farmers.  I think they’ll have to go out and buy more land and buy bigger tractors.”

Trump: “I said, ‘Tell them to buy larger tractors.  It’s very simple.’ They’ll buy more land and they’ll buy larger tractors.”

Trump’s lies and exaggerations aren’t harmless. Farmers say they’re hurting and struggling with uncertainty Trump’s erratic policies have created.

“The tariffs have hurt everyone. Farmers play the long game, but in the short run there are lots of struggles.” – Kentucky soybean and corn farmer

“I don’t know of a grower in North Carolina that has a plan for next year. Survival is the plan right now.” – North Carolina farmer

“Are you optimistic about your son’s prospects of being a tobacco farmer?” North Carolina farmer: “I used to be. Now it’s questionable. Once these tariffs are eliminated or settled, you can talk to me then.”