{"id":94181,"date":"2020-01-21T07:54:24","date_gmt":"2020-01-21T15:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=94181"},"modified":"2020-01-21T09:31:32","modified_gmt":"2020-01-21T17:31:32","slug":"president-trump-at-the-american-farm-bureau-federation-annual-convention-and-trade-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=94181","title":{"rendered":"President Trump at American Farm Bureau Federation Convention"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Austin, Texas&#8230;Well, I want to thank you very much.  And thank you to our great Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue. Thank you, Sonny, very much.  You\u2019ve done a fantastic job.  (Applause.)  Sit down, everybody.  Let\u2019s stay for a while.  Come on.  We did it.  We did it.  Remember?  (Applause.)  They were all saying, \u201cYou\u2019ll never get NAFTA changed.\u201d  We were stuck with one of the worst trade deals in history.  \u201cWe\u2019ll never do it.  We\u2019ll never get a deal done with China.\u201d  I\u2019ve told everybody, \u201cYou got to buy a lot of land, and you\u2019ve got to get much bigger tractors right now.\u201d  Because we did a great deal with China \u2014 great for our country.  And hopefully, it\u2019s great for China, too, because we\u2019re going to sell them the greatest product you\u2019ve ever seen, right?  The greatest product you\u2019ve ever seen.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zcL7n6XAgzU\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>But I am thrilled to be back in this incredible state of Texas.  We\u2019ve had a tremendous victory.  And from what I understand, those polls are all saying we\u2019re way higher than we were in \u201916.  Is that correct?  That\u2019s right, Dan.  Thank you, Lieutenant Governor.  My Dan.  Great.  Thank you very much.  We\u2019re doing good.<\/p>\n<p>But this is where the people are known for being tough, and strong, and hardworking, loyal, fiercely patriotic \u2014 just like America\u2019s incredible farmers.<\/p>\n<p>My administration is fighting for the American farmer, and has been fighting for the farmer and the rancher every single day.  And together, we\u2019ve achieved something truly stunning.  And, really, it was a historic number of victories \u2014 not one; we had numerous victories.  A lot of them just \u2014 it sort of all came together.  What good timing.  I said, \u201cLet\u2019s see if we can get it done for this event.\u201d  Most Presidents don\u2019t come.  And when they do, they come once.  This is my third time in a row, and I promise I\u2019ll be here next year, too.  (Applause.)  We\u2019ll be here next year.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, a poll just came out \u2014 Wall Street Journal.  It just came out.  Look at this: \u201cFarmer Approval of Trump Hits Record, Poll Shows\u2026 83 percent of the farmers and ranchers approve of the President\u2019s job performance.\u201d 83 percent!  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>But, I want to know, really: Who are the 17 percent?  Who are they?  (Laughter.)  Who the hell are the 17 percent?  (Laughter.)  Anybody in here from the 17 percent?  Don\u2019t raise your hand; it may be dangerous.  (Laughter.)  That\u2019s pretty good, right?<\/p>\n<p>But, on Wednesday, after two years of hard-fought negotiations, where the farmers and ranchers stood with me all the way \u2014 they knew we had to do it.  It wasn\u2019t done by other administrations.  They didn\u2019t want to do it because it was nasty. We signed a groundbreaking trade agreement with China.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Under this landmark agreement, China will now be purchasing $40- to $50 billion of American agricultural products every single year, tripling our agricultural exports to China.<\/p>\n<p>You know, we had a deal: It was done at $20 [billion] \u2014 $20 billion \u2014 the most they ever purchased, according to Sonny Perdue.  I said, \u201cSonny, we have to help the farmer because they were targeted.\u201d  And I\u2019m not saying I blame China.  You know, they want to win; we want to win.  We all want to win, right?  We like to win.<\/p>\n<p>How is your team doing today, by the way?  I don\u2019t know.  How is it going?  (Applause.)  Are they doing okay?  We\u2019ll soon find out.  I said, \u201cThis is wonderful thing.  I come to\u2026\u201d  Look at this place; it\u2019s packed.  It\u2019s sold out.  Look at the crowd.  It\u2019s sold out.  (Applause.)  And you have a \u2014 you have a game with the team, known as \u201cTexas.\u201d  But we\u2019ll see how it does.  Let\u2019s \u2014 this is right now.  This is the thing we have to focus on.<\/p>\n<p>But, on Thursday of this week, we made a really historic \u2014 once again, the Senate passed \u2014 because this is in addition to China \u2014 the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to replace the catastrophe, the disaster known as \u201cNAFTA.\u201d  I\u2019ve been complaining about it for many years.  Our jobs left.  Our factories closed.  Our companies left, opened up.  They made product.  They sold it into the United States \u2014 no tax, no nothing.<\/p>\n<p>We have just the opposite right now.  It\u2019s very painful if they want to do that.  It\u2019s very hard for them to do that, economically.  The \u201cUSMCA,\u201d as we call it, will massively boost exports for farmers, ranchers, growers, and agricultural producers from North to South, and from sea to shining sea.  It also has tremendous impacts on manufacturers and all of the other things \u2014 good for everybody.  But we won\u2019t bother; we only care about the farmers today, and the ranchers.  Right?  So we don\u2019t have to talk about the manufacturers.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s fantastic for manufacturing and lots of other things.  And our manufacturing numbers are fantastic.  You see that.  Remember?  Manufacturing.  Phil, you remember?  \u201cThere\u2019s no more manufacturing.\u201d  And then we have almost 600,000 jobs.  They said, the last administration, \u201cYou\u2019d need a magic wand to bring back manufacturing.\u201d  So I guess we found the magic wand.  (Applause.)  We found the magic wand.<\/p>\n<p>Joining us today are a few of your strongest allies in Washington who helped make these achievements possible.  Senators Pat Roberts and Cindy Hyde-Smith \u2014 where are they?  (Applause.)  Please.  Please.  Pat and Cindy Hyde.  I\u2019ll tell you: These are two people that love the farmer.<\/p>\n<p>And Pat \u2014 I mean, every time I get a call \u2014 Pat.  That meant like, \u201cCome on.  Come on, President.  Let\u2019s go, President.\u201d  But what a great career you\u2019ve had.  What an unbelievable number of election victories you\u2019ve had.  We\u2019d love to keep you for a long time, but I don\u2019t think we can talk about him out of it at this point.  But, Pat, thank you very much.  And Cindy Hyde-Smith, you have a done a fantastic job representing everybody, but representing the farmers and ranchers.  Thank you very much.  And, Pat, thank you very much.  Great job.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And Representatives Randy Weber, Roger Williams, and John Carter.  Please stand up.  Warriors \u2014 they\u2019re warriors.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And also, three friends of mine \u2014 Texas leaders at the highest level \u2014 Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller.  Please stand up.  Please stand up.  (Applause.)  That\u2019s great.  Hi, Sid.<\/p>\n<p>I remember 2016 \u2014 the election.  And the fake news \u2014 these people back here \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 they were going \u2014 they were saying, \u201cTrump \u2014 going to have a hard time winning Texas.\u201d  And we came.  We made speeches, Sid.  Remember?  We\u2019d have 25-, 30,000 people standing on line.  Can\u2019t get in.  And I said, \u201cWhy am I going to have a hard time with Texas?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And I remember, Sid Miller \u2014 I didn\u2019t know Sid.  But he was big, and he had the big, beautiful cowboy hat on.  I love that hat.  I wish we could wear them in Washington or New York because I would be the biggest buyer of that hat.  (Laughter.)  I just don\u2019t know if it would play there, but I\u2019ll wear them in Texas, I\u2019ll tell you.<\/p>\n<p>But Sid was sitting there with that hat on, and he looked great.  And he said, \u201cI don\u2019t know about you, and I don\u2019t know where you\u2019re getting this information about a close race in Texas, but there\u2019s going to be nothing close about this race in Texas.  Trump is going to win this race by so much, you\u2019re not going to believe it.\u201d  That\u2019s exactly what happened.<\/p>\n<p>So, thank you very much.  I didn\u2019t know Sid.  He just said, \u201cTrump is going to win by a lot.\u201d  And ever since then, I\u2019ve liked Sid a lot, and you turned out to be right.  Right, Sid?  Thank you very much.  Great job.  (Applause.)  Great job.<\/p>\n<p>I also want to take a moment to send our love and support to the President of the American Farm Bureau \u2014 a great guy \u2014 Zippy Duvall.  Sadly, Zippy\u2019s wonderful wife \u2014 a tremendous woman, married for 40 years \u2014 Bonnie \u2014 passed away last night.  And we want Zippy and his entire family to know we are keeping them in our thoughts and prayers.  And he was a very \u2014 it was a very special relationship, and I just want to wish the family well.  And, Zippy, we\u2019re with you 100 percent \u2014 100 percent.  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>So, I\u2019m truly honored to be addressing the Farm Bureau\u2019s annual convention for my third straight year.  My administration understands that if we want to stand up for America, we must stand up for American farmers.  So important.  Incredible people.  (Applause.)  If we want America to thrive and grow, then we must ensure that America\u2019s farms flourish and prosper.  And that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing.  You feed our people, you fuel our nation, you sustain our land, you uphold our values, and you preserve our cherished American way of life.  We want our products made, grown, and raised right here in the USA \u2014 and that\u2019s what\u2019s happening.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>I hope you all remember that, before I took office, American agriculture was being crushed by an onslaught of massive taxes; crippling regulations; burdensome federal mandates \u2014 you know about that.  I released it.  I released it all.  And horrendous trade deals.  And they were horrendous indeed.  I actually used to say, \u201cWho the hell would have negotiated a deal like this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When I ran for President, I vowed to use every power at my disposal to protect American farmers and restore the full strength of American agriculture.  I promised that I would always have your back.  And unlike the politicians who came before me \u2014 they talked a lot; they did nothing for you \u2014 I kept my promise.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Under the previous administration, net farm income plummeted by more than 20 percent.  Under my administration \u2014 and, remember, these trade deals haven\u2019t even really kicked in yet.  I told China, a couple of months ago, \u201cDo me a favor.  We\u2019re going to make a deal.  Start buying.  Start buying.\u201d  And they did.  Not as much as I wanted, but they did.  They wanted to wait until they got the signed agreement.  Now we have the signed agreement.  But they started buying.  But it\u2019s also Japan.  It\u2019s also other countries.  But net farm income has gone up by more than $30 billion dollars \u2013- an increase of nearly 50 percent in just three years.  Remember that.  (Applause.)  And the big stuff is yet to come.  The big numbers, in my opinion, are yet to come.<\/p>\n<p>We are fixing problems and cleaning up messes that others have neglected for decades.  They\u2019ve treated you very unfairly.  They\u2019ve treated you very foolishly.  Frankly, they\u2019ve treated you stupidly \u2014 stupidly \u2014 to put our great farmers in this position.  We are winning for our farmers, and we winning like never before.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And don\u2019t forget: When I ran, I said, \u201cWe\u2019re going to do this stuff.  We\u2019re going to do it.\u201d  But it was just words.  \u201cWe\u2019re going to do it.\u201d  Everybody said, \u201cWe\u2019re going to do things.\u201d  But I did it.  We got it done.  And this is the time; I couldn\u2019t say it last year.  Last year, I said, \u201cHey\u2026\u201d  You know, you were being targeted by China, in all fairness.  You were being targeted.  They stopped buying, purposely.  Then I put the big tariffs on.  Then I gave you a lot of the money, out of the tariffs.  We had a lot of money left over, but we gave you \u2014 Sonny told you \u2014 $16 billion, and $12 billion the year before.  And that made you do very well.<\/p>\n<p>But, you know, the farmers came to me.  They said, \u201cWe don\u2019t want anything.  We just want a level playing field.\u201d  And you have now even more than a level playing field.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>The deal with China will tear down market barriers and pry open vast new markets for American beef, pork, poultry, seafood, soybeans, rice, dairy, infant formula, animal feed, biotechnology, and much, much more.<\/p>\n<p>This is an incredible success for our entire country, and it was your fortitude, your perseverance, and your devotion that made it all possible.  And I have to tell you, another benefit, and a very big benefit, is we now perhaps have the best relationship that we\u2019ve had with China in many, many years.  And China respects us now.  They didn\u2019t respect us.  They couldn\u2019t believe they were getting away with what they were getting away with.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Having a good relationship with China is good \u2014 and Russia, is good; and many other countries, is a good thing.  But we don\u2019t people taking advantage of us.<\/p>\n<p>For years, China stole trade secrets from American agri-businesses, and plundered our intellectual property, illicitly subsidized grain procedures, and installed one barrier after another to block out our farmers and to block out our ranchers.<\/p>\n<p>When my administration confronted these abusive and destructive trade practices, China targeted American agriculture for retaliation.  They even took ads, saying what a bad person I was.  But the farmers \u2014 only some of them believe that.  And those people have come all the way back, too.<\/p>\n<p>To defend our farmers, I authorized $28 billion dollars.  And we\u2019re getting that money, Sonny, to the small farmers also.  There were some statements \u2014 big farmers \u2014 no, we get them to the small farmers.  We get them to everybody \u2014 big farmers, small farmers.  And we have a formula that I think has been working out, Sonny, very well.  If it\u2019s not, call me directly, and I\u2019ll call Sonny and give him hell, okay?  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>But we\u2019re getting it to the small farmers, the big farmers, and everybody.  And that\u2019s a lot of money.  And I am delighted to report that the final installment of all of those billions of dollars of that money will be coming very quickly, Sonny, I guess.  Is that a correct statement?  Yes?  Thanks.  You never backed down \u2014 (applause).  Unless you don\u2019t want it, because you\u2019re making so much money now.  If anybody would like to give it up, please raise your hand.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>You stayed in the fight.  You protected our economy and our security.  And, together, we all together \u2014 we prevailed.  You were always with me.  You never even thought of giving up.  And we got it done.  And there were times when, you know, the \u2014 the media was trying to cause trouble.  They\u2019d come into Iowa.  \u201cIsn\u2019t it terrible with the practices and the trade.\u201d  And the farmers would say, \u201cNo, the President is doing the right thing.  It\u2019s tough, but the President is doing the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But then we started doing the big tariffs \u2014 taking in literally tens of billions of dollars.  And we started giving money back.  I went to Sonny Perdue.  I said, \u201cSonny, what did China \u2014 what was the number that China did last year?\u201d  He said, \u201cSir, they bought $16 billion.\u201d  I said, \u201cOh, that\u2019s good.  What did they do the year before?\u201d  \u201cSir, they bought $12 billion worth of product.\u201d  I said, \u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So it\u2019s $12 billion.  We gave you the $12 billion.  Then, $16 billion.  We gave you the $16 billion so you weren\u2019t hurt.  And now we have a position that I don\u2019t think the farmers and ranchers have been in this position maybe ever.  I don\u2019t think so.  And I think it\u2019s going to work out good.  And I think China is going to go all out to prove that the agreement that was signed is a good agreement.<\/p>\n<p>And we have very, very strong stipulations in there.  But that it\u2019s a \u2014 an agreement that is a fair agreement and good for the farmer.  I think they\u2019re looking to prove that it\u2019s going to be great for the farmer.  But even bigger and better than we ever thought possible \u2014 that\u2019s what this agreement is.  It\u2019s much bigger and much better than I ever thought we\u2019d get.<\/p>\n<p>And, frankly, there were times when I didn\u2019t think we were going to get anything because I cancelled every meeting \u2014 how many times have you seen me cancel with the Iran deal?  You didn\u2019t see Kerry cancel ever.  He just took one bad point after another bad point, and then he signed a bad agreement, and then we terminated that deal.  But that\u2019s a little different than the farmer stuff.<\/p>\n<p>But you didn\u2019t any walking.  We walked from this deal a lot.  And sometimes, you have to walk from a deal in order to make the right deal.  And we walked from this one a lot, didn\u2019t we?  Phil was talking to me, and our great past governor.  It\u2019s sad to say that, but you have a great new governor.  Right, Phil?<\/p>\n<p>But we were talking about it, and he says, \u201cYou got to do what you got to do.  If you can\u2019t make the right deal, you got to walk.\u201d  It\u2019s true.  So we walked a lot.  And we always got called back.  \u201cLet\u2019s do it the way you want.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On behalf of every American worker and family, thank you for standing strong for America.  Thank you very much to the farmers and ranchers for standing with me; for saying, \u201cThe President is right.  Yes, it\u2019s tough right now, but the President is doing the right thing.\u201d  Thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>More than anything else, it proved to me that farmers love America.  And I just want to tell you that America loves our farmers.  Thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Under the deal, China has agreed to spend many billions of dollars on American services, energy, and manufactured goods.  China has made substantial commitments regarding the protection of American ideas, trade secrets, patents, and trademarks.  China has also pledged firm action to confront pirated and counterfeit goods.  Most important of all, the deal is enforceable \u2014 very, very powerfully enforceable.  In fact, it was probably the thing that we negotiated the most.  And rest assured, we will vigorously enforce its terms.  Hopefully, we won\u2019t have to.  Hopefully, it\u2019ll go just as we anticipate.<\/p>\n<p>In a matter of days, we will achieve another tremendous victory for the American agricultural businesses, when I sign the USMCA into law.  So, we just passed it in the Senate, and it was a wonderful vote, and I sign it very soon.  It\u2019s being prepared now \u2014 beautifully prepared.  I\u2019m going to Europe to talk to world leaders and to talk to business people about coming.  Everybody wants to come back to America.  Everybody wants to come back to the United States.  We\u2019re now where the action is.  They\u2019re all coming back.<\/p>\n<p>And when I come back, we\u2019ll have a ceremony, probably in the White House.  We also may go to some of the farming communities and we\u2019re going to sign the deal.<\/p>\n<p>Under the USMCA, Canada will finally provide greater access for American dairy.  You know, Canada was charging us 287 percent tariffs.  Nobody knew that.  Nobody knew that.  I knew it.  So, you basically couldn\u2019t even deal with Canada.<\/p>\n<p>But those days are gone.  Our dairy exports are set to increase by more than $300 million dollars per year.  Poultry exports to Canada could jump by nearly 50 percent.  (Applause.)  Exports of eggs to both Canada and Mexico could skyrocket by as much as 500 percent, and maybe even 1,000 percent.  Very importantly, Canada will finally give fair treatment to American-grown wheat, which is a big deal to you people.  What the hell do I know about it?  (Applause.)  I don\u2019t know anything about it; I just know you had a problem with it.<\/p>\n<p>I said to a couple of the farmers \u2014 I\u2019d have a lot of farmers at the White House.  They were incredible.  I said, \u201cWhat\u2019s the big thing?\u201d  \u201cWheat, sir.\u201d  \u201cTell me about it.\u201d  And they told me about it.  I\u2019m a very quick study; I figured it out quickly.  I said, \u201cI know nothing about it, but that sounds right to me.\u201d  So we got it in the contract.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>The two momentous trade deals we completed last week are just the beginning of a really incredible story.  Because nobody thought we\u2019d ever get here.  They\u2019d say the deal with China would be impossible to make, and getting rid of NAFTA would be totally impossible.  One of the reasons it was totally possible: It was such a bad deal for us \u2014 good for the other countries; not good for us.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re achieving what no administration has ever achieved before.  And what do I get out it?  Tell me.  I get impeached!  That\u2019s what I get out of it.  (Laughter.)  By these radical left lunatics, I get impeached.  But that\u2019s okay, the farmers are sticking with Trump.  They\u2019re sticking with Trump.  (Applause.)  These people.  These people.  It could have been so much easier.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  In just \u2014 (laughs) \u2014 thank you very much.  (Laughter.)  In just the past few months, we persuaded Japan to slash tariffs on $7 billion of U.S. agricultural products.  Over 90 percent of our agricultural exports to Japan will now receive preferential treatment.  Nobody thought that was possible.  And, in many cases, we will be completely duty free \u2014 and you\u2019ve never heard that before.  (Applause.)  That\u2019s a $40 billion deal, by the way.  That\u2019s in addition to China, and Canada, and Mexico, and South Korea.<\/p>\n<p>We secured guaranteed access for American beef to the EU \u2014 European Union \u2014 a deal that will nearly triple our beef exports to Europe in the coming years.  And, as you know, Europe has had tremendous barriers to us doing business with them.  All those barriers are coming down.  They have to come down.  If they don\u2019t come down, we\u2019re going to have to do things that are very bad for them.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>No, we\u2019ve been taken advantage of by everybody.  There\u2019s nobody that \u2014 we \u2014 we\u2019ve been taken advantage of by everybody.  Europe.  Who would think Europe?  Europe was, in many ways, more difficult \u2014 and is more difficult \u2014 than China.  Nobody would believe that.<\/p>\n<p>I was saying to Sonny and some of the people before, \u201cDealing with Europe, in many ways, has been worse and tougher than dealing with China.\u201d  Not fair.<\/p>\n<p>We have secured record market access for U.S. rice in South Korea; it was a big one.  We won tariff exemptions in Ecuador for wheat and soybeans.  They were tariffing us out of business.  We opened up Vietnam for American orange growers.  We got Brazil to raise its quotas for purchases of our wheat and ethanol.  We opened up Guatemala and Tunisia to American eggs.  And in November, we ended China\u2019s years-long ban on American poultry.  You know that very well \u2014 years-long.<\/p>\n<p>And part of it was: I asked.  I said, \u201cYou got to do this.\u201d  They said, \u201cBut nobody has ever asked before.\u201d  I said, \u201cBut I\u2019m asking.  Thank you very much.\u201d  Nobody ever asked.  Half of it, nobody asked.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>If we harvest or herd it in the United States, I want to help you sell it all around the world.  To make American agriculture even more competitive, we passed the biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history, by far.  And to help you keep your family farm, and keep it in the family, we virtually eliminated the deeply unfair estate tax, or \u201cdeath tax.\u201d  We got rid of it for small farms, ranchers, and small businesses.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>So, if you love your children, you can now leave your farms and your ranches and your small businesses to your children, and you don\u2019t have to pay tax.  (Applause.)  If you love your children, you don\u2019t have to pay the estate tax or the death tax.  If you do not love your children, you don\u2019t really care about that provision.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>Is there anybody here that does not love their children and does not want to leave their beautiful farm to their children?  Anybody here?  Come on, you have guts.  I think farmers have a lot of guts.  Come on.  You mean there\u2019s not one person that dislikes your children because they\u2019re brats \u2014 because they\u2019re spoiled rotten brats?  (Laughter.)  Okay, well, that\u2019s a pretty good group of people.  Well, that\u2019s the farmers for you, right?  That\u2019s the farmers.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>But think of that.  You know, people were wanting to pass along their farm.  And they\u2019d pass away, and their children would take it.  And then the tax people would come along, and the tax would be monumental.  And the income wouldn\u2019t be so good, but the value of the farm was a lot.  And they\u2019d go out and they\u2019d mortgage the farm to the hilt.  And within a short period of time, the banks are foreclosing on the farm, and taking the farm, and putting the farm up for sale.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t have to worry about that anymore.  There\u2019s no more estate tax.  There\u2019s no more death tax on those farms.  So, good.  That\u2019s good.  That\u2019s really good.  (Applause.)  That\u2019s very important.  That was a hard thing to get.  That was hard to get by the wonderful Democrats that we have to deal with every day.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to our pro-American tax cuts, trade reforms, and regulatory reductions, America now has the hottest economy anywhere on Earth, and there\u2019s no place even close.  Everybody is coming back.<\/p>\n<p>Since my election, the United States has gained more than 7 million jobs \u2014 un-thought of.  If I would have said that on the campaign trail, the fake news would have gone crazy.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>The unemployment rate is now 3.5 percent \u2014 the lowest in over 51 years, half a century.  (Applause.)  The African American, Hispanic American, and Asian American unemployment rates have reached the all-time historic lows \u2014 lowest in the history of our country.  More Americans are working today than ever before \u2014 almost 160 million.  Never even been close to that.<\/p>\n<p>Under the so-called \u201cTrump Economy,\u201d the lowest-paid earners are reaping the biggest, fastest, and largest percentage gains. This is a blue-collar boom.  Everybody is booming, frankly, but it\u2019s a blue-collar boom.  Net worth for the bottom 50 percent of wage earners has grown 15 times more under my administration.  Think of that: 15 times.  You know, 15 times more than under the three prior administrations.<\/p>\n<p>Wages for the bottom 10 percent are rising faster than for the top 10 percent.  And that\u2019s okay for the rich people.  Let somebody else enjoy life a little bit, right?  Does any rich person \u2014 of which we probably have a lot in this room \u2014 any rich person have a problem with that?  Please stand up. (Laughter.)  I don\u2019t think we\u2019re going to see that person standing.<\/p>\n<p>Real median household income is now at the highest level ever recorded.  Think of that: highest ever recorded.  You know, in the Bush administration, for eight years: $450.  In the Obama administration, for eight years: $975.  In the Trump administration, for less than three years: almost $10,000, when you include the tax cuts, the energy savings, and the regulation cuts.  Nobody can believe it.  (Applause.)  Nobody can believe it.  Think of that \u2014 isn\u2019t that amazing? \u2014 $450, $975.  And that\u2019s been in eight years, eight years.  And then you have less than three years \u2014 because it was done as of a few months ago \u2014 and you have almost $10,000.<\/p>\n<p>To power our future, America is boldly embracing energy independence.  The United States is now the number-one producer of oil and natural gas in the world, which means lower prices for farmers and consumers.  And you see how the prices are: They\u2019re stable to low.  And it means America is no longer reliant on foreign nations.  Isn\u2019t that nice?  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And we are also proudly promoting American ethanol.  Chuck Grassley calls me.  Joni Ernst calls me.  Deb Fischer calls me.  They all call \u2014 everybody.  Pat calls me.  Ethanol.  They love ethanol.  And I recently approved E-15 to be used all year round, instead of eight months.  And that\u2019s a big thing for the American farmer.  We\u2019re providing unprecedented support to ethanol \u2014 support like they\u2019ve never had before.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, the radical left in Washington wants to demolish these gains.  And they, frankly, want to destroy your way of life.  They are not for the farmer.  They are not for our military.  They are not for secure borders.  They want open borders.  They want sanctuary cities.  Essentially, what they\u2019re saying is, \u201cWe want crime.\u201d  And they don\u2019t want crime, but that\u2019s what you get when you have open borders.<\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, just so you know, the wall is being built at a very rapid pace.  We\u2019re over 100 miles now.  (Applause.)  We think we\u2019ll be over 400 miles by the end of next year.  And shortly thereafter, we\u2019ll have a completed wall.<\/p>\n<p>And you probably also \u2014 this was a big news story.  They saw people \u2014 they had to capture them.  They couldn\u2019t get over the wall.  They had to send trucks and ladders and firepeople because they got stuck on the top of the wall.  They couldn\u2019t get down.  Loaded up with drugs on their back.<\/p>\n<p>So it\u2019s very successful.  It\u2019s going to be very, very successful.  It\u2019s having a big impact already because we\u2019re setting records now \u2014 what we\u2019re doing, in terms of people coming into our country illegally.<\/p>\n<p>We want them to come into our country, by the way.  We want them to come in, though, through merit.  We want them to come in legally.  And we want them to come so they can help the farmer, just so you understand.  Because I want them to be able to come in to help our farmers.  (Applause.)  And we\u2019re going to give you plenty of help.  Because without that, it\u2019s very difficult.<\/p>\n<p>Taking their cues from socialists like Bernie Sanders, or a fake socialist like Pocahontas \u2014 (laughter).  She\u2019s actually worse than a socialist, but she doesn\u2019t want to admit it.  But the far left, they want to massively raise your taxes, crush your \u2014 your businesses with regulations, take away your healthcare, and send bureaucrats to interfere with your property and second guess every decision that you make.  They want to take it away, and they want to load you up with regulations, so you can\u2019t live, you can\u2019t breathe.<\/p>\n<p>Left-wing politicians want to shut down oil and gas production in the United States.  And if they succeed, they will cost our farmers and ranchers billions of dollars per year in royalty payments alone.  But more importantly, you\u2019re not going to be able to afford the energy that you need to run your farms.  We will never let it happen.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>There are no better stewards of our precious natural resources than the American farmers who depend on the land and the environment for their very livelihood.  You love your land.  You\u2019re going to take care of your land.  You don\u2019t need some bureaucrat in Washington telling everybody what the hell to do with your land.  You love your land.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to the environment, I will always trust a farmer over a Washington bureaucrat or a left-wing extremist.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>To help producers expand, I signed a Farm Bill that doubles the amount you can borrow to improve your farm.  You like that \u2014 that Farm Bill.  And, Pat \u2014 stand up again, Pat.  Boy, he was brutal in that Farm Bill.  I\u2019d get a call every two minutes from Pat.  (Applause.)  I\u2019d say, \u201cTell him I\u2019ll call him back next week.\u201d  Great job.<\/p>\n<p>We also protected the crop insurance programs that producers rely on in times of disaster.  Through fires, floods, and freezing weather, we will always support our great American farmers.  You have my word.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>We have liberated American agriculture from an avalanche of federal regulations.  In the Trump administration, we know that the role of government is not to harass our citizens; it is to serve our citizens, to make life easy, and to make you hire lots of people, and have a great farm, and have tremendous success, and make lots of money, and send your children to school \u2014 be safe, be free.<\/p>\n<p>Our law enforcement \u2014 we are going to protect our law enforcement just like they protect us.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>When I took office, I issued an order requiring that for every one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated.  Instead of two for one, we have now cut more than eight for one.  Nobody thought that was possible.  (Applause.)  As a result, the average American household will save $3,100 dollars a year, just on regulation cuts and sensible regulation.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, I took decisive action to slash regulatory and approval times for critical infrastructure used to transport goods and produce.  Currently, environmental reviews can take 10 years or more.  I\u2019ve been through it myself.  You want to build a building, and you fear it\u2019s going to take 12 years to get permits.  I say, \u201cTwelve years?\u201d  I\u2019ve been through it, so I understand what you go through.<\/p>\n<p>But our proposals will limit the process to two years \u2014 and, in many cases, less than one year.  (Applause.)  And you may get rejected for environmental or safety reasons, but it\u2019s going to go very quickly.  We will soon build new roads, bridges, tunnels, highways, railways, and waterways across our land.<\/p>\n<p>I terminated one of the most ridiculous regulations of all: the last administration\u2019s disastrous Waters of the United States rule.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  It\u2019s gone.  That was a rule that basically took your property away from you.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll never forget: At the White House signing, I had probably 30, 35 people behind me \u2014 farmers and homebuilders and others \u2014 people that haven\u2019t cried in many years.  People that weren\u2019t \u2014 some of them were so tough, they never cried.  They didn\u2019t cry when they were babies.  And they were crying.  (Laughter.)  No, we gave them their life back.<\/p>\n<p>We did it in Minnesota, with the iron ore.  We opened it up.  They took it away \u2014 the Obama administration.  Minnesota now has the greatest fields in the world \u2014 iron ore.  But we did it in a lot of ways.<\/p>\n<p>But, in this case, it had such a beautiful name, right?  It was so beautiful.  I said, \u201cOh, this is disaster, but I\u2019m going to do it because I knew it was the right thing to do.\u201d  And everybody loved it.  And now you\u2019re back in business.  You\u2019re doing what you have to do.  They really took away your property, and they took away your property rights.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>So, this rule gave bureaucrats virtually unlimited authority to regulate stock tanks, drainage ditches, and isolated ponds as navigable waterways and navigable water.  You believe that?  Sometimes, you\u2019d have a puddle \u2014 a little puddle.  And they\u2019d consider that a lake.  As long as I\u2019m President, government will never micromanage America\u2019s farmers.  You\u2019re going to micromanage your own farm, and that\u2019s the way it should be.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And, today, I\u2019m proud to announce that I am taking yet another step to protect the water rights of American farmers and ranchers.  Under the previous administration, the Army Corps of Engineers proposed a new Water Supply rule that would give the federal government vast and unlimited power to restrict farmers\u2019 access to water.  That\u2019s not a good thing.  Is anybody happy with being restricted to water if you have a farm?  Please stand up if you are happy about that.  Because this authority rightfully belongs to the states, not the bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>That is why I am directing the Corps of Engineers to immediately withdraw the proposed rule \u2014 just submitted recently, meaning last administration \u2014 and allow states to manage their water resources based on their own needs and based on what their farmers and ranchers want.  (Applause.)  Water is the lifeblood of agriculture, and we will always protect your water supply.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Since my inauguration, we have also devoted nearly $1 billion dollars to rural broadband, connecting a quarter of a million rural households, and we\u2019re moving at a rapid pace.  The USDA will soon award another $1.1 billion, and the FCC will soon vote on a plan to direct $20 billion to rural broadband.  It\u2019s about time.  You know, they take care of their cities, but they don\u2019t take care of you.  (Applause.)  They take care of their cities, but not you.<\/p>\n<p>In everything we do, we are putting the needs of American workers, families, and farmers first.  We are putting America first.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>The great men and women in this room are the stewards of a inheritance and a noble tradition that\u2019s unrivaled.  It\u2019s handed down from one generation to the next, all the way back to the very beginning of our country.  You take pride in your work, joy in your calling, and deep satisfaction in your vital contributions to the life and health and success of our republic.<\/p>\n<p>America has always been a farming nation \u2014 founded, built, and grown by people just like you, who pour out their heart, soul, and sweat into this land; who wake up at the crack of dawn; who plow the soil, plant the seed, and tend the fields from the dawn to dusk; and do not rest until that job is beautifully, perfectly done.  Does that sound familiar?  I think so, right?  (Applause.)  It\u2019s true.  That\u2019s the American farmer, rancher.<\/p>\n<p>You embody the spirit of optimism that has always defined this magnificent country.  You look at an empty field in the dead of winter, and you envision the spark of life in the peak of spring.  That\u2019s what you see.  You see differently than other people.<\/p>\n<p>Farmers have always been the keepers of our great American values.  You champion the love of family, the dignity of work, and the glory of God.  You teach your children to celebrate our nation, defend our freedom, honor our values, and to always respect and cherish our great American flag.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  USA!  USA!  USA!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  With your faith, your grit, your tenacity, your talent, and your patriotism, the best days for America and the best days for America\u2019s farmers and ranchers are yet to come.<\/p>\n<p>I want to thank everybody.  This has been such an incredible turnout, and I appreciate everybody for being here.  We\u2019re taking care of our farmers.  We\u2019re taking care of our ranchers.  We\u2019re taking care of our manufacturers.  We\u2019re taking care of our military and our vets.  We\u2019re taking care of our country.  It\u2019s \u201cMake America Great Again.\u201d  It\u2019s \u201cKeep America Great.\u201d  It\u2019s whatever you want to call it.  We\u2019re the greatest country anywhere in the world, and we\u2019re taking care of you.<\/p>\n<p>So thank you all very much.  This is a great honor, and I\u2019m glad we\u2019ve been successful.  We got those deals done.  Thank you very much.  Thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>END<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Austin, Texas&#8230;Well, I want to thank you very much. And thank you to our great Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue. Thank you, Sonny, very much. You\u2019ve done a fantastic job. (Applause.) Sit down, everybody. Let\u2019s stay for a while. Come on. We did it. We did it. Remember? (Applause.) They were all saying, \u201cYou\u2019ll never [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Fullscreen-capture-1212020-75235-AM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/94183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}