Trump to announce $12 billion in aid to farmers

President Donald Trump plans to announce a $12 billion aid package for American farmers on Monday, a White House official said.

The announcement is scheduled to be unveiled during an afternoon roundtable event at the White House where Trump, alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, will hold a discussion with farmers.

The aid package will include up to $11 billion in one-time payments under a new program administered by the Agriculture Department.

Bloomberg News first reported details of the announcement Sunday.

The relief for farmers comes as a tense trade war between China and the United States begins to show signs of easing. After months of acrimonious relations, China in recent weeks has started to buy massive amounts of soybeans.

In late November, China purchased its largest tranche of U.S. soybeans in two years, Reuters reported.

While Beijing remains far short of its commitment to buy 12 million tons of soybeans as part of a recent agreement, Bessent said the country's purchases are coming along in a "perfect cadence."

"China is on track to keep every part of the deal," he said at a conference last week hosted by The New York Times.

The recent uptick in agricultural purchases from China also comes after the world's second-largest economy turned, at least temporarily, to Argentina for its supply of soybeans in lieu of U.S. exports.

In October, the Treasury Department announced a $20 billion currency swap agreement with Argentina, whose far-right president, Javier Milei, is a high-profile Trump ally.

Some perceived the foreign aid announcement as a bailout, which angered American farmers who said they were already being pushed to the breaking point by the loss of the Chinese soybean sales. Now, they claimed, Washington was effectively bailing out the competition.

Bessent said the Treasury Department ended up making a profit on the swaps line. But this was of little comfort to farmers who have been eagerly awaiting promised government aid for months.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com