Trumpism - Part 3

[T]he president’s sudden announcement this week that he’ll give $12 billion in subsidies to farmers is setting off a new wave of anxiety — a deep sense of apprehension over Trump’s unpredictability on trade and questions over whether the White House has any plan at all.

[...]

The presidential trip takes place amid growing unease across the Midwest — even among those typically loyal to Trump — related to Trump’s sudden embrace of subsidies. Industry leaders have long said they’ve wanted trade inequity addressed, but the growing mantra here has been a call for “trade not aid.”

“I think there is an uneasiness: What if this president’s wrong? What if he’s not successful?” said Kirk Leeds, CEO of the Iowa Soybean Association. “There doesn’t appear to be any, any movement forward, in any public way."

  Politico

And speaking of not knowing why the figure of $12 billion was chosen...

Leeds said the $12 billion in subsidies could buy Trump time politically, placating nervousness in states critical to the GOP’s midterm prospects, especially since the checks are expected to arrive not long before November.

But the value of those checks, when divvied up — there are some 40,000 soybean farmers in Iowa alone — is in question. Leeds said he heard from one farmer who calculated he’d likely receive just a few thousand dollars in subsidies, even as he’s down $150,000 for the season.

[...]

Lehman, whose organization represents some 700 family farmers, said many of his members backed Trump after harboring growing frustration with the agricultural economy under Democratic leadership.

And look what they got.

“We’d love to see the policies and practices of this administration match those that we came to believe they would put in place. It’s been a much more scattershot approach,” Lehman said.

Trumpism in a word.

“China [just] announced a $199 billion infrastructure spending bill to spur their economy. We’re all talking about the $12 billion,” said Leeds [...] . “We’re playing with squirt guns while they’re using cannons.”

Trumpism in a metaphor.