President Donald Trump said the United States could buy Argentine beef in an attempt to bring down prices for American consumers.
The president on Sunday said cattle ranchers across the country don't yet understand how they have benefited from his tariffs and that they need to lower their prices, suggesting the U.S. could make a deal with Argentina to bring in some beef.
Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig (D) appeared on MSNBC Thursday and admonished the idea.
"The beef price issue has really roiled farm country over the last week, throughout Minnesota and this country," Craig explained. "And at the end of the day, this president needs to stop telling America's farmers that they love them and they need to start acting like it."
Craig, who is running for Sen. Tina Smith's U.S. Senate seat in 2026, called the proposal either "corrupt, or stupid, and probably both."
“We would buy some beef from Argentina,” the Republican president told reporters aboard Air Force One during a flight from Florida to Washington on Sunday. “If we do that, that will bring our beef prices down.”
Trump promised last week to address the issue as part of his efforts to keep inflation in check.
U.S. beef prices have been stubbornly high for a variety of reasons, including drought and reduced imports from Mexico due to a flesh-eating pest in cattle herds there.
Trump has been working to help Argentina bolster its collapsing currency with a $20 billion credit swap line and additional financing from sovereign funds and the private sector ahead of midterm elections for his close ally President Javier Milei.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.