In surprise call, Trump tells farmers trade war could drag on but appeals for votes; some applaud, some leave, a few boo

Perdue takes call (FarmProgress photo)

With his farm base restive due to the trade war with China and other matters, President Trump reached out to farmers directly Wednesday with a call to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who was on stage at the annual Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Ill. They "stunned the crowd," Natalina Sents reports for Successful Farming.

"I'm with a group of your friends, Midwest farmers," Perdue told Trump, but the audience reaction to the president's pitch, which suggested that the trade war may not end until after the November 2020 election, was not entirely positive, report Sents and Mindy Ward of FarmProgress.

Trump said, "I can make a quick deal with China, and I can carry that deal into a tremendous amount of agriculture products. Immediately I would be a hero, I would easily win the election. And that would be that, but it would be the wrong deal. Or I can do it the right way like it should have been done over the last 35 years, and do it the way we are doing right now, stay the course." He added, "I can do a quick deal and look like a hero, or I can do it the right way, but it has to take a little time."

Sents writes, "Trump acknowledged China may look to delay a trade agreement until after the 2020 election, saying, 'They'd rather deal with sleepy Joe Biden than with me.'" Perdue, "looking at the crowd of show attendees spilling out of the building," told Trump, "These farmers are long-term players."

Trump noted the tentative trade deal with Japan and said, “China targeted our farmers thinking they can get to me because they knew I loved the farmers.” Addressing them, he said, “I hope you like me even better now than you did in '16.”

"Some farmers applauded, while a few booed," Ward reports. "The presidential phone call was cut short due to connection problems. Perdue quipped, 'That’s why we need broadband across the country Mr. President, we don’t have a good signal here.'"