Standing outside the White House with former HUD Secretary Ben Carson, President Donald Trump‘s Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters: “We’re looking at our soybean, corn, wheat, sorghum, cotton farmers who are facing very difficult times. We are currently in conversations here at the White House, across the government, on a farmer aid package.”
Note: After Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on China, Chinese leader Xi Jinping retaliated by halting all purchases of American soybeans. Caleb Ragland, president of the American Soybean Association and a farmer from Kentucky, said: “We depend on the Chinese market. The reason we depend so much on this market is China consumes 61 percent of soybeans produced worldwide. The rest of the world is 39 percent. Of the soybeans that American farmers produce, 25 percent currently have been going to China. And right now, we have zero sold for this crop that’s starting to be harvested right now.”
Billionaire tech guru and investor Mark Cuban, who campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential campaign against Trump, responded to Rollins’s announcement.
If taxpayers funds this, should the President ask for equity in the farms ? I say no. But if they are going to be consistent…Same with the money going to rural hospitals.
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) September 24, 2025
If we took equity from Intel and MP , why shouldn't we do it with all for profit companies that get… https://t.co/RKcv0bEkgM
He wrote on social media: “If taxpayers fund this, should the President ask for equity in the farms? I say no. But if they are going to be consistent…Same with the money going to rural hospitals. If we took equity from Intel and MP, why shouldn’t we do it with all for profit companies that get funding?”
Note: The Trump administration is reportedly pursuing an ownership stake in MP Materials — a rare earths company — to support U.S. tech and national security interests. The administration has already negotiated a 10 percent stake in U.S. semiconductor manufacturer Intel in return for U.S. government investment in the firm.]
The Intel deal has been criticized by both Democrats and Republicans for emulating situations in communist countries like China and Russia — and undermining the free market principles that distinguish the American system.
Mike Pence: "State ownership of business is very common in China and Russia. Taking a percentage of the sales of Nvidia, taking a percentage of the stock of Intel is inconsistent with free market principles, and I think it's taken our country to a very perilous place and I think… pic.twitter.com/yJfo4BoOw6
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 18, 2025
Trump first-term Vice President Mike Pence, commenting on government ownership of private corporations, said: “State ownership of business is very common in China and Russia. Taking a percentage of the sales of Nvidia, taking a percentage of the stock of Intel is inconsistent with free market principles, and I think it’s taken our country to a very perilous place.”
