The Free Press recently published a striking op-ed with the headline: I’m a soybean farmer who voted for Trump. I’m begging him to end the trade war.
The piece was written by Kentucky farmer Caleb Ragland, who also serves as president of the American Soybean Association. In the article, Ragland warns, “The tariffs on China could put us out of business by 2027. All our blood, sweat, and toil could vanish with the stroke of a pen.”
Despite this clear warning about the destruction of his own livelihood, Ragland doesn’t directly criticize Trump for recklessness or dishonesty. Instead, his focus is simply on lamenting the reality of the ongoing trade war — a war that Donald Trump reignited and that voters like Ragland helped make possible.
Ragland openly admits in the essay that he voted for Trump in three presidential elections — 2016, 2020, and 2024. That means he continued to support Trump even after the chaos and scandals of his first term: the mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, the January 6th insurrection, two impeachments, the E. Jean Carroll civil verdict, and Trump’s conviction in New York for falsifying business records.
Yet nowhere in Ragland’s piece is there an expression of regret for his repeated support. He only expresses regret that Trump’s trade war is now threatening his family’s business. But Trump’s fondness for tariffs has never been a secret. He campaigned on them again in 2024, openly promising to impose broad tariffs on imports if elected. So it’s hard to see why anyone would be surprised now that he’s doing exactly what he said he would do.
Still, Ragland — like many others — seems to have cast his vote hoping that Trump wouldn’t actually follow through on his own policies. But as the saying goes, actions have consequences.
Perhaps now, Ragland is starting to learn that lesson — that you reap what you sow.
And maybe, just maybe, it’s finally sinking in.
