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the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution.
“We’re in kind of a farm crisis,” said Bob Worth, who grows soybeans, corn and spring wheat with his son on 2,200 acres (3.4 square miles) near Lake Benton in southwestern Minnesota. He wouldn’t say how he voted in 2016, but he o ered kind, if measured, words for Trump.
“I’m going to believe in the man,” added Worth, who’s also on the board of the Min- nesota Soybean Growers Association. “He’s doing this for business reasons only. I don’t know if he knows how much he’s hurting agriculture.”
Matt Aultman, a grain salesman and feed nutritionist in Greenville, Ohio, west of Columbus, said farmers there are keep- ing a close watch on the talk in Washing-
ton. Farmers pay attention to two things: prices and weather. And a trade ght that a ects prices won’t go unnoticed.
“It directly a ects our pocketbooks and the way we plan for the following years,” he said. “Are we going to pay all the bills this year? Are we going to buy a new piece of equipment? Do you get your kids a couple new pair of shoes?”
In California’s central valley, Republican Rep. Je Denham has avoided the issue altogether in recent days. His opponent, Democrat and longtime family farmer Mi- chael Eggman, said Trump’s trade policies would shatter his community.
e district is home to Blue Diamond Almonds, among smaller nut producers, who send much of their product to China and suddenly face the prospect of 15 per-
cent tari s.
“We all know how hard it is to make
ends meet as a small family farmer, and Trump is not making it easier,” Eggman said. “Je Denham, who claims to be a local farmer, hasn’t said one word about it. Where’s the outrage?”
Denham, through a spokeswoman, did not address the president’s moves directly but said the congressman supports “free and fair trade” and a plan that’s “carefully thought out.”
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Peoples reported from New York. Kar- nowski reported in Minneapolis. AP data journalist Larry Fenn in Seattle contribut- ed to this report.
Trump to skip annual White House correspondents’ dinner
By CATHERINE LUCEY, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, a constant critic of what he calls “fake news,” will skip the White House Correspondents’ Dinner for a second year in a row.
White House Correspondents’ Asso- ciation president Margaret Talev said in statement Friday that the “White House has informed us that the president does not plan to participate in this year’s dinner but that he will actively encour- age members of the executive branch to attend.”
Trump had said he “probably won’t
do it” in an interview on the “Bernie and Sid” radio show on 77 WABC Radio that was taped Thursday and aired Friday.
Saying the press is “so bad” and “so
fake,” Trump said: “I want to get it straightened out with the press before I do it.”
Talev said White House Press Sec- retary Sarah Sanders will attend to represent the administration at the head table.
The annual dinner, a fundraiser for college scholarships and a venue for re- porting awards, mixes politicians, jour- nalists and celebrities and is typically attended by the president and first lady. Remarks by a comedian, often roasting the president, and a humorous address by the president himself, often roasting the press and political opponents, have highlighted the event, which C-SPAN has carried live.
Trump skipped the event last year, holding a rally in Pennsylvania instead. Prior to that, Ronald Reagan was the
most recent president to skip the annual dinner, as he was recovering after being shot during an assassination attempt.
If he attended, Trump would likely be a prime target of jokes, with the cam- era showing his reaction to one-liners. Before he entered politics, the former reality star attended the event and in 2011 was on hand — and appeared hu- miliated — as former President Barack Obama lobbed joke after joke at his expense.
Trump did attend the annual Grid- iron Club Dinner earlier this year, de- livering a speech at the annual white-tie affair featuring journalists and officials. At that event, Trump offered a series of good natured one-liners in his remarks.
Among his quips: “I was very excited to receive this invitation and ruin your evening in person. at’s why I accepted.”
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