Overview
- At a Dec. 8 meeting with farmers, Trump said he would remove environmental restrictions on John Deere and other equipment manufacturers.
- He contended that added environmental features have driven up costs and complexity, making machinery less practical for farmers.
- Trump said modern equipment is frequently in the shop and claimed you "need about 185 IQ to turn on a lawn mower."
- He announced a $12 billion bailout package intended to provide relief to farmers facing financial pressures.
- Coverage connected the aid and deregulation push to disrupted markets and lost sales in key export destinations such as China.