By A. D’Carlo
I’m still trying to wrap my head around Scott Bessent’s straight-faced claim that he’s “actually a soybean farmer” who has “felt this pain too.” That’s about as believable as a feudal lord calling himself a plowman because he owns the field. My very first thought was of Steve Martin’s famous line from The Jerk: “I was born a poor black child.”
Let’s be clear: Bessent isn’t out there fixing combines or watching the sky for rain.
Hell, he probably doesn’t even have a subscription to The Farmer’s Almanac.
He’s a billionaire hedge-fund guy — a former Soros lieutenant turned Treasury Secretary — who happens to own some farmland. Owning land doesn’t make you a farmer any more than owning a yacht makes you a sailor, or owning a private jet makes you a pilot.
A Bailout By Any Other Name
Bessent’s been busy bragging about a “currency swap” with Argentina — $20 billion now, with talk of doubling it to $40 billion. But calling it a swap is just fancy footwork. Argentina’s peso is worth about as much as Monopoly money.
It’s a bailout with lipstick — taxpayer money on the line so that billionaires might cash in on Argentina’s chaos.
And here’s the kicker — while the U.S. props up Argentina’s collapsing economy, China is buying its soybeans. So we’re effectively bankrolling our competition, keeping Argentina afloat so Beijing can buy from them instead of us.
That’s not smart policy, it’s self-sabotage disguised as diplomacy.
The “Trade Deal” That Doesn’t Exist
Bessent keeps talking about a new ‘trade deal’ with China that’ll supposedly make U.S. farmers happy again. But here’s the truth — there is no deal, only a ‘framework,’ Washington-speak for a handshake and a press release. Even the purchase of 180,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans ahead of Trump’s meet with Xi Jinping is a token gesture, while China has already booked millions of tons of soy from Argentina — and U.S. farmers are getting left behind.
No signed contracts. No guarantees. No significant purchases. Just empty talk meant to sound like progress while the real deals, and the real money, go elsewhere.
So while he tells farmers to hold tight for a miracle, China buys South American soybeans, Argentina cashes U.S.-backed checks, and American farmers get stiffed.
The Feudal Farmer
At this point, Bessent’s “I feel your pain” act would be funny if it weren’t so insulting. He’s the modern version of a feudal lord walking through the fields, patting peasants on the head, and saying, “Tough year, huh?”
A billionaire in a suit that probably cost as much as a John Deere 4440 at auction, smiling for the cameras while real farmers sell off their equipment to survive.
- The farmers plant. He collects rent.
- They risk everything. He diversifies.
- Their survival depends on the weather. His wealth shapes the market.
When an independent farmer has to sell the family farm, there’s a good chance it’ll end up in Bessent’s portfolio — or Peter Thiel’s, or the Waltons’.
No empathy — just theater.
C’mon, Man!
If you’re going to claim to stand with farmers, try standing in their boots first. Don’t hand billions to foreign governments, call it “help,” and expect the folks at home to cheer.
Empathy without experience isn’t empathy. It’s performance.
And American farmers deserve a hell of a lot better than a billionaire in bespoke vicuña selling them “framework fairy tales” and promises of a bright future — if they can just tough it out and keep their rent paid.