AGRICULTURE/CHINA/CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “[M]y administration is launching a sweeping new initiative: the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. Through this effort, we are providing $19 billion to support our nation’s agricultural producers, maintain the health of our critical food supply chains, and provide food assistance to American families. Nineteen billion dollars… I’ll tell you, you can go back to Abraham Lincoln and there’s no President that’s treated the farmers like Trump…
As part of this program, today we’re announcing 16-billion-dollar direct payments to farmers and ranchers. So $16 billion is going directly to the farmers and ranchers, and it’s authorized by the CARES Act and the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act. We fought hard for this. These payments will compensate farmers for losses related to the global pandemic, caused by China.”
-Donald Trump, “Remarks by President Trump on Supporting our Nation’s Farmers, Ranchers, and Food Supply Chain,” whitehouse.gov, May 19, 2020