In an interview yesterday, Trump continued to lie about helping farmers and once again made clear that he has given up on a phase two trade deal after settling for a phase one deal that left the biggest issues with China unaddressed in exchange for purchases to help his reelection, which aren’t happening. It’s obvious that Trump got played.

Trump made clear that a phase two trade deal isn’t happening and claimed that farmers are in business now because of him.

TRUMP: “The last thing I think about right now is phase two. It’s the last thing I’m thinking about right now, is a China phase two deal.”

TRUMP: “You ever notice you never hear anything bad from the farmers? It’s because they hit pay dirt because of me. Without me, they would be out of business right now. They hit pay dirt. We gave them $28 billion for targeted aid.”

Farm bankruptcies increased this year and thousands of farmers are out of business because of Trump’s failed trade policy and coronavirus response.

Wall Street Journal: “More U.S. farmers are filing for bankruptcy, as federal payments projected to reach record levels this year fall short of compensating for the coronavirus pandemic and a yearslong slump in the agricultural economy. About 580 farmers filed for chapter 12 bankruptcy protection in the 12-month period ended June 30, according to federal data. That was 8% more than a year earlier, though bankruptcies slowed slightly in the first half of 2020 partly because of an infusion of federal aid and hurdles to filing during the pandemic, according to agricultural economists and attorneys.”

Trump settled for a phase one deal that left the biggest issues unaddressed in exchange for purchases to help his reelection, but they aren’t happening.

Bloomberg: “The six-month review of the U.S.-China phase-one trade deal is set to take place against a backdrop of rising acrimony, and the fact that Beijing’s purchases under the agreement continue to fall substantially short.”

Barrons: “But according to data compiled by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), Chinese agricultural purchases at the end of June were far from where they should be at this point in the year. They had reached only 39 percent of their semi-annual target, according to US figures.”

Reuters: “China bought only 5% of the targeted $25.3 billion in energy products from the United States in the first half of 2020, falling well short of its trade deal commitments at a time when relations between the two top economies are already sour.”

Trump lost his trade war with China, and few U.S. businesses say the trade war he started was worth it.

Reuters: “Few U.S. companies doing business in China view President Donald Trump’s Phase 1 trade deal as being worth the cost of tariffs incurred over a two-year trade war, a new survey by the U.S.-China Business Council showed on Tuesday. The trade group said that just 7% of respondents to its annual membership survey said that the benefits from the Phase 1 agreement outweigh the costs of tariffs incurred along the way.”