Republican lawmakers representing cattle ranchers who called President Donald Trump’s proposal to import beef from Argentina a “betrayal” are chewing out the president about potential harm to the agricultural industry in their states. “Nebraska’s ranchers cannot afford to have the rug pulled out from under them when they’re just getting ahead or simply breaking even,” Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) said this week on X. “I strongly encourage the Trump administration to focus on trade deals that benefit our ag producers—not imports that will do more harm than good.”Since hearing the president’s comments suggesting the U.S. would buy beef from Argentina, I’ve been in touch with his administration and my colleagues to seek clarity and express my deep concerns. I’ve also been sounding the alarm on the bleak state of our ag economy and the…— Senator Deb Fischer (@SenatorFischer) October 21, 2025Trump suggested Sunday that the U.S. buy beef from Argentina to lower prices for American consumers, leading to backlash from farmers.“What frustrates me about this whole move is President Trump ran on an ‘America First’ program. I don’t see anything in this that puts America first,” Todd Armstrong, a Trump voter who owns a cattle and crop farm in Indiana, told CNN.MAGA influencer Tomi Lahren also slammed the president’s proposal, asking on X, “Why the actual FUCK would we buy Argentinian beef?”Flooding the market with Argentinian beef is not America first. It is a huge betrayal of our American cattlemen.What this is is a giant gift to the greedy meat packers who already undercut our American ranchers by importing foreign beef and passing it off as product of USA due…— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) October 22, 2025Trump’s beef-buying proposal came after soybean farmers were dealt a significant blow when China, which according to The New York Times buys $12.6 billion worth of soybeans from the U.S., refused to purchase more due to Trump’s trade war.Christian Lovell, a cattle producer and a leader in nonpartisan farm organization Farm Action, called Trump’s plan “a betrayal of the American rancher.” “After crashing the soybean market and gifting Argentina our largest export buyer, he’s now poised to do the same to the cattle market,” Lovell wrote in a statement.President Donald Trump welcomes Argentine President Javier Milei at the White House on Oct. 14.Xinhua News Agency via Getty ImagesThe National Cattlemen’s Beef Association called Trump’s proposal an “effort to manipulate markets” that risks “damaging the livelihoods of American cattlemen and women, while doing little to impact the price consumers are paying at the grocery store.”Trump responded to the outcry by telling followers on Truth Social that if it weren’t for him, cattle ranchers “would be doing just as they’ve done for the past 20 years — Terrible!”Members of the president’s own party are now worried what the proposed deal might do to their states’ ranchers. In her post on X, Fischer said she had already expressed her “deep concerns” to the Trump administration and had “also been sounding the alarm on the bleak state of our ag economy and the negative impacts facing Nebraska’s ag industry—the economic driver of our state.”Meanwhile, eight House Republicans signed a letter questioning Trump’s plan, noting that the cattle industry contributes $112 billion to rural economies across the nation. Our farmers and ranchers stand ready to deliver on @POTUS’s America-First agenda.The United States produces the safest, highest-quality beef in the world. Let’s build on that success to meet increased demand. READ: pic.twitter.com/IK4Jr7svmm— Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak (@RepFedorchak) October 22, 2025Mike Flood, another GOP representative from Nebraska, told CNN he is “expressing concern about anything that’s disrupting our beef market in America,” but is “hesitant to suggest this is anything but a blip on the radar because there’s no real identified plan.”Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told Semafor in an interview published Wednesday that the “ideal” scenario is to not import beef from Argentina.“This isn’t the way to do it,” Thune, who represents a major beef producing state, said. “It’s created a lot of uncertainty in that market. So I’m hoping that the White House has gotten the message.”Close