U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue admitted Tuesday that America’s farmers “are one of the casualties here with trade disruption.” Speaking to CNN during a visit to Iowa, Perdue said that while he hoped President Trump would come to an agreement with China by the end of the year, he could not promise anything for 2020. “I’ve told the president—and the president understands—you can’t pay the bills with patriotism. We know that, and certainly he knows that. That’s why he’s trying to supplement the damage they’re having from trade disruptions with market facilitation.”

Perdue also insisted to CNN’s Vanessa Yurkevich that “we don’t know” what the cause of climate change is. “So if it’s not human-caused, then what is it?" Yurkevich asked. “You know, I think it’s weather patterns, frankly,” Purdue said. “And you know, and they change, as I said. It rained yesterday, it’s a nice pretty day today. So the climate does change in short increments and in long increments.” Many Upper Midwest farmers have been unable to plant soy and corn crops for the crucial summer season because of unprecedented spring flooding in the region, adding to the financial crunch from the Trump tariffs.