Trump Announces New Farm Relief Measures to Cut Costs
President Donald Trump on Friday announced a series of actions aimed at supporting farmers and food suppliers as rising energy costs continue to pressure the agricultural sector. The plan includes regulatory changes, expanded loan guarantees, and additional relief funding tied to agriculture.
Trump said his administration is working to reduce equipment costs and improve access to financing for farmers across the country. He made the remarks during an event on the South Lawn of the White House, Fox News reported.
“Every day we’re looking for new ways to support our farmers, reduce your costs, and to help lower the price of food for the American family,” Trump said. “We’re going to prove that the golden age of American agriculture is right here and right now.”
Trump also called on Congress to pass a new farm bill and said he plans to request additional funding in the next spending package. He pointed to previous relief efforts funded through tariffs, saying farmers have already received $12 billion in support.
The president criticized the administration of former President Joe Biden, saying past policies hurt the farming industry through regulations and trade decisions. He said his administration is working to reverse those impacts.
Trump said the Environmental Protection Agency will revise guidelines tied to diesel emissions rules that affect farm equipment. The changes are expected to reduce costs for farmers, particularly those relying on modern diesel engines.
The administration also plans to adjust rules involving Diesel Exhaust Fluid requirements and selective catalytic reduction systems used to limit emissions. Trump said those regulations have added financial burdens for farmers.
“It was a basic disaster,” Trump said. Trump also highlighted efforts to expand renewable fuel production tied to agricultural products. He criticized environmental activists while defending the administration’s approach to energy and agriculture policy.
“What they’ve done to you, and the country – what they’ve done to the country – is just incredible,” Trump said. “They are terrorists.”
In addition, the Small Business Administration will expand loan guarantees for small businesses in the agricultural sector. The program will apply to farmers, food suppliers and producers across multiple industries, including livestock and grain operations.
In February, the House of Representatives has passed the Housing for the 21st Century Act by a vote of 390-9, advancing a bipartisan effort aimed at reducing regulatory barriers, modernizing federal housing programs, and increasing the nation’s housing supply.
The legislation, co-sponsored by House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill (R-AK), and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA), now moves to the Senate, where its prospects remain uncertain but bolstered by the overwhelming House margin.
The bill cleared the House Financial Services Committee in December before receiving near-unanimous support on the House floor. Lawmakers from both parties described the measure as a targeted response to housing shortages and rising costs that have strained households nationwide.
According to a summary released by the committee, the Housing for the 21st Century Act directs the Government Accountability Office to identify gaps and inefficiencies in existing federal housing programs, updates the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program, reduces regulatory obstacles that lawmakers say have slowed housing development, and provides banks with greater flexibility to deploy capital toward expanding housing supply.
House Speaker Mike Johnson framed the legislation as part of a broader effort to address affordability concerns.
“Housing costs have soared beyond the reach of millions of American families thanks to Bidenflation, while outdated and burdensome red tape has constrained our nation’s affordable housing supply and limited our ability to expand it,” Johnson said. “Today’s House passage of the Housing for the 21st Century Act is a critical step toward addressing this shortage by reducing unnecessary regulatory barriers, modernizing HUD programs, and giving banks flexibility to deploy capital to increase our housing supply.”
Trump Issues Statement Regarding Health of Mitch McConnell
Weeks after former GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was hospitalized for a reportedly serious heart condition, there has been much speculation about his current condition.
Rumors are also swirling about whether he can complete his term, which ends in January.
Initially, reports said that McConnell suffered a “cardiac arrest” and was administered CPR – a health condition that is normally fatal, even for victims much younger than McConnell, who is 84 and has an extensive history of health problems.
But later, in one of the few public updates on the Kentucky Republican’s condition, his staff only said that he was receiving “excellent care.”
However, others who should know more about McConnell’s condition don’t. That includes the president of the United States.
Libby Dean, the White House correspondent for NewsNation, tweeted on Wednesday: “President Trump says he has ‘no idea’ how Sen. Mitch McConnell is doing and says he hasn’t spoken with the Kentucky Republican since McConnell’s hospitalization.”
Now, the governor of the Bluegrass State has grown concerned enough that he has reached out to the senator to inquire about his health.
“As Governor, I request that you fully update Kentuckians regarding the current status of your health,” Gov. Andy Beshear,a Democrat who is seen as a potential 2028 presidential contender, wrote in a letter to McConnell on Wednesday.
“As public officeholders, we have made a commitment to our constituents to do our best to represent them and to always be transparent,” Beshear’s letter continued.
“I believe this requires clear communication about one’s ability to serve,” he added.
Several top Republicans were asked about McConnell’s condition on Tuesday, and their responses were not reassuring.
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee has said that even members of Congress are in the dark about McConnell’s current condition.
Speculation has surrounded the health of the 84-year-old McConnell since the Kentucky senator was found unconscious and required CPR at his home in Washington, D.C., weeks ago.
McConnell’s staff has provided no significant update on his condition since he was hospitalized June 14.
The secrecy has fueled speculation that there is an effort to keep the full extent of the Republican’s condition from the public and has raised questions about whether he will be able to return to office.
On Monday night, MAGA social media user Mila Joy wondered why other senators haven’t spoken out about McConnell’s condition.
“Because they are ALL in on it together. That’s why,” Joy posted to her 571,000 X followers.
In reply, Sen. Lee posted: “Many of us aren’t speaking about Mitch McConnell’s condition because we know nothing about his condition.”
But Lee’s assessment contradicts earlier comments from Senate Majority Leader John Thune after McConnell was first hospitalized.
Thune said he had spoken to the 84-year-old and that he “sounded good.”
“He wants to be back, but I’ll defer to his staff on when,” Thune said on June 15.
Popular conservative activist Laura Loomer claimed recently that sources told her that McConnell is in a “vegetative state,” dismissing Thune’s version of events.
Things with McConnell have gotten worse by the day.
Since the reported incident, McConnell’s office has provided scant details on the former Senate GOP leader’s health condition, except to say that he allegedly “appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital.”
His office last week also said the 84-year-old senator “continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”
Trump ‘Briefed With Options’ Amid Stalled Iran Talks
The Trump administration on Wednesday continued to express optimism about negotiations with Iran, even as Iranian officials insist that no direct talks have taken place, according to reports.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister said no face-to-face meeting had occurred in Doha and that no direct negotiations with the United States were currently planned.
Despite Tehran’s position, President Donald Trump described the discussions as “very good,” apparently referring to indirect contacts involving U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner communicating through third-party intermediaries.
Vice President JD Vance struck a firmer tone the same day, warning that the United States could escalate its response if Iran refuses to cooperate or takes actions that further destabilize the Middle East.
His remarks underscored the administration’s message that while it remains open to a diplomatic resolution, additional measures remain on the table if negotiations fail.
“If Iran attempts to rebuild its nuclear program, threaten its neighbors and support terrorism, President Trump has options to deal with it,” Vance noted, without elaborating.
Earlier, a Wall Street Journal report claimed that Trump had been briefed on several military options, including “all-out war,” but Trump said he wanted to give diplomacy more time.
Vance additionally stated that the US “dropped bombs on Iran because it fired on ships, and we used leverage to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.”
He went on to suggest that the U.S. could take that course of action again.
Vance also said the current talks are “to discuss the details and flow of maritime traffic.”
The vice president, addressing U.S. military personnel at a naval base in Virginia on Wednesday, also said that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back decades.
“If you look at what our own intelligence says about their nuclear program, they are further away from developing a nuclear bomb than they have ever been since basically the last 20 or 30 years,” Vance said, though he stopped short of Trump’s claim that the program had been “totally obliterated.”
“What the president asks you to accomplish is to destroy the defense industrial base of that country, so that if they ever decided to rebuild their military, or if they ever decided to rebuild that nuclear program, they would be harmless to do it. You did that exactly as well,” Vance added, per the Times of Israel.
The VP went on to say that Trump is now “negotiating from a position of strength because of you.”
“If the Iranians try to rebuild the nuclear program, the President’s got options. If the Iranians try to threaten their neighbors or fund terrorism, we’ve got options,” Vance continued.
“But what we must never do is drop bombs just for the sake of dropping bombs. And that is what the president will never ask you to do,” Vance added.
“He’ll ask you to go to war, yes. But when he asks you to go to war, he’ll tell you exactly what you’re going for,” the veep noted further.
“And I think that is what you should expect out of your political leadership.”
“What I noticed about the people who are attacking the administration for negotiating is that they are the very same people who, for example, encouraged us to just go a little bit further and just drop a few more bombs in places like Afghanistan,” he said.
“If you go back to the mistakes that were made, those very same people refused to say what we were dropping bombs for,” he added.
“We dropped some bombs a couple of days ago… Because the Iranians were shooting at commercial ships… We applied some leverage, and we’ve had free commercial transit for the last three days,” Vance told the naval personnel.
