Rural backlash against Trump fuels potential Democratic Senate gains in farm states

Rural voters across Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and other farm states are blaming Donald Trump for a cascade of economic harms, including a near-70% jump in diesel prices, record input costs and an 85% rise in farm bankruptcies. Trade tariffs have reduced U.S. soybean shipments to China from about 40% to roughly 23%, while a major health-care bill cuts food aid and Medicaid, endangering 1.8 million rural Americans. Prominent voices such as Nebraska Farmers Union president John Hansen and Montana farmer Jon Tester argue that Trump’s wars and tariffs have created the worst agricultural crisis since the 1980s. Polls indicate that Republican Senate candidates in Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas and other states could lose, and farmers like Vance Ehmke and Nancy Danner say they will back Democrats in the upcoming election. The growing discontent has also sparked criticism from the traditionally conservative Cato Institute, which calls Trump’s tariffs “serious damage” to agriculture.