Donald Trump has pulled off a staggering self-own.
The 80-year-old president has been coming under increasing pressure over the cost of living, which has been made substantially worse by his war in Iran, and has seen the cost of groceries and gas soar.
Despite campaign-trail promises, Trump has been unable to lasso the price of beef and has now launched a desperate bid to finally get it under control by pledging to import 300,000 metric tons of beef tariff-free over a 90-day period.
“Today, I concluded a deal to substantially lower the price of ground beef for working American families,” he said. “As everyone knows, under President Biden, beef prices soared at their fastest rate and the American beef herd fell to its smallest size in modern history.”
This foreign meat will be sold for a quarter below market price, but he did not say whether he would apply the same discount to American meat from American ranchers.
“As we work to rebuild this herd and help our ranchers, for the next 90 days, the United States will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef to be imported with no out of quota tariff.
“We have a commitment that this beef will be sold at 25 percent below current market prices. This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again,” he wrote.
The administration has not specified which companies would supply the meat, or with whom Trump had agreed to import waivers.
Beef prices have soared in 2026 due to a perfect storm of high feed costs and a diminished herd, among other issues.
Republicans have begun to worry that affordability issues affecting everyday Americans could translate directly into lost seats in November’s midterms.
CNBC reports that the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has already attacked the move, saying Trump’s solution would not solve the problems it sought to tackle.
“While America’s cattle producers share the goal of keeping groceries affordable for consumers, flooding the market with government-subsidized, below-market beef is not the way to rebuild the American cattle herd,” said CEO Colin Woodall. “Cattle markets have already turned sharply lower this morning, to the detriment of farmers and ranchers.”
He added: “Today’s announcement and other market interventions throw cold water on the prospect of herd expansion and sacrifices long-term stability for short term messaging.”
Sharing Trump’s announcement, Democratic Party-affiliated X account Headquarters said, “Trump announces fixed prices for imported beef at ’25 percent below current market price,’ undercutting American ranchers in new post.”
Agricultural communities are an important voting bloc for Trump. In the 2024 election, 77.7 percent of the most agricultural-dependent counties nationwide—counties where 25 percent or more of average annual earnings come from farming—voted for him, Investigate Midwest reports.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
