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Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleOct. 4, 2025, 7:30 AM EDTBy Steve KopackThe humble soybean is the latest flashpoint in the Trump administration’s campaign to reshape global trade.Used in everything from animal feed to fuel, soybeans regularly rank among the most valuable U.S. agricultural exports, towering over higher-profile crops like corn and cotton. More than $30 billion worth of American soybean products were exported in fiscal year 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.For American soybean farmers, their top overseas market has long been China, which bought around a third of the export crop — approximately $12 billion worth of American soybean products — in the last calendar year, USDA data shows.But not anymore.As President Donald Trump’s trade war leaves U.S.-China relations somewhere between frosty and openly hostile, America’s soybean farmers appear to be an early casualty.An embargo in all but nameSo far, China has not purchased any U.S. soybeans during this year’s main harvest period, with sales falling to zero in May. This has pushed many American farmers reliant on soybeans nearly to the breaking point. It has also complicated the Trump administration’s plans to provide billions in foreign economic aid to Argentina. Buenos Aires recently sold more than 2.5 million metric tons of soybeans to Beijing, after briefly suspending its export tax on the soy products. Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday.Greg Baker / AFP – Getty ImagesU.S. officials blame China for the looming crisis facing American soybean producers. “It’s unfortunate the Chinese leadership has decided to use the American farmers, soybean farmers in particular, as a hostage or pawn in the trade negotiations,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday on CNBC.Farmers view the situation differently, however. They want Trump to reach a trade deal with China that ends the unofficial embargo on soybeans. But instead, what they see is the White House preparing to bail out one of their chief rivals for the Chinese export market.“The frustration is overwhelming,” American Soybean Association President Caleb Ragland said in a recent statement.Meanwhile, China — the world’s biggest buyer of soybeans —indicated last week that it won’t resume U.S. purchases unless more Trump tariffs are lifted. “As for soybean trade, the U.S. side should take proactive steps to remove relevant unreasonable tariffs, create conditions for expanding bilateral trade, and inject more stability and certainty into global economic development,” Commerce Ministry spokesperson He Yadong told reporters in Beijing.Emergency relief is comingThe Trump administration will announce new support for farmers, “especially the soybean farmers,” on Tuesday, Bessent said.“We’re also going to be working with the Farm Credit Bureau to make sure that the farmers have what they need for the next planting season,” he added.Bessent personally owns as much as $25 million worth of farmland in North Dakota that produces corn and soybeans, according to his recent financial disclosures.He said soybeans would be a topic of discussion at the upcoming meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum later this month.Mark German loading soybeans into a truck in Dwight, Ill., in August.Scott Olson / Getty Images fileTrump is also aware of the impact his trade policies are having on American farmers, starting with soybean growers.“The Soybean Farmers of our Country are being hurt because China is, for ‘negotiating’ reasons only, not buying,” the president posted Wednesday on Truth Social.“We’ve made so much money on Tariffs, that we are going to take a small portion of that money, and help our Farmers,” Trump added.The question is whether this aid will come soon enough to save this year’s massive harvest of soybeans.At the center of the firestorm is Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who warned this week that “this moment of uncertainty in the farm economy is real.” Speaking on Fox Business Network, she emphasized that Trump has long supported U.S. farmers.Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins outside the White House on Tuesday.Aaron Schwartz / Sipa USA via AP“President Trump and Secretary Rollins are always in touch about the needs of our farmers, who played a crucial role in the President’s November victory,” the White House said in a statement Thursday. “He has made clear his intention to use tariff revenue to help our agricultural sector, but no final decisions on the contours of this plan have been made.”The Argentina factorThe current U.S.-China stalemate over soybean exports is also complicating another American foreign policy conundrum: what to do about Argentina’s faltering economy.As U.S. soybean exports to China screech to a halt, Argentina’s farmers jumped at the opportunity to sell China their own soybeans. From their perspective, a potential U.S. economic aid package has nothing to do with their soybean exports, and everything to do with the personal and political alliance between Trump and libertarian President Javier Milei. Milei was the first foreign leader to visit Trump after his 2024 election victory, and he has become a familiar face at U.S. political events attended by the president’s MAGA supporters.At a Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, D.C. in February, Milei gifted then-Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk a red chainsaw. Musk then waved it around onstage, calling it “the chainsaw for bureaucracy.” Elon Musk holding a chainsaw onstage at a CPAC conference in Oxon Hill, Md., in February.Andrew Harnik / Getty ImagesEight months later, Milei’s popularity with voters has plunged, raising doubts about the future of his market-friendly economic reforms and strict austerity measures.Local elections in early September dealt a blow to Milei’s party, triggering massive turmoil in Argentina’s stock and currency markets. A few weeks after the market plunge, Bessent announced on social media that the U.S. was prepared to deploy billions of dollars to support the South American country.A presidential delegation from Buenos Aires is expected to visit the White House next week to finalize the U.S. foreign aid deal.This has infuriated the soybean farmers. “U.S. soybean prices are falling, harvest is underway, and farmers read headlines not about securing a trade agreement with China, but that the U.S. government is extending $20 billion in economic support to Argentina while that country drops its soybean export taxes to sell 20 shiploads of Argentine soybeans to China in just two days,” Ragland said.President-elect Donald Trump with Argentine President Javier Milei at the America First Policy Institute gala at Mar-a-Lago in November.Carlos Barria / Reuters fileMeanwhile, Milei has also secured a currency swap line for Argentina from China, a situation that gives pause to some in Washington. In response, Milei has said Argentina will maintain its mutually beneficial trade and economic relationship with China. Tensions inside the Trump administration over China, Argentina and the soybean farmers broke into the open last week.While attending the U.N. General Assembly, Bessent received a text message from a contact labeled “BR.”“We bailed out Argentina yesterday … and in return, the Argentine’s removed their export tariff on grains, reducing their price, and sold a bunch of soybeans to China at a time when we would normally be selling to China,” read the message, widely presumed to come from Rollins.“Soy prices are dropping further because of it. This gives China more leverage on us,” the message concluded.Spokespeople for Bessent and Rollins did not respond to questions about the text message exchange.

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The humble soybean is the latest flashpoint in the Trump administration’s campaign to reshape global trade

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Oct. 4, 2025, 5:15 AM EDTBy Jeremy Mikula and Melinda YaoThe government shuts down, a celebrity couple calls it quits, and Taylor Swift releases a new album. Test your knowledge of this week’s news, and take last week’s quiz here.#embed-20251003-news-quiz iframe {width: 1px;min-width: 100%}Jeremy MikulaJeremy Mikula is the weekend director of platforms for NBC News.Melinda YaoI am an intern for data graphics team.Nick Duffy, Josh Feldman, Lara Horwitz and Jana Kasperkevic contributed.

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The government shuts down, a celebrity couple calls it quits, and Taylor Swift releases a new album.

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Oct. 4, 2025, 5:00 AM EDTBy Sahil KapurWASHINGTON — The federal government remains shut down, with the Senate struggling to find the 60 votes needed to reopen it and no negotiations taking place between the leaders of the two parties.Republicans control the Senate but need at least eight Democratic caucus members to vote with them to overcome a filibuster and end the shutdown. So far, they have just three: Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa.; Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; and Angus King, I-Maine. The rest are holding firm, so far, as the party demands concessions in the form of health care funding in order to win their votes.Federal government shutdown set to stretch into next week02:19With no serious discussions occurring between Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the spotlight turns to rank-and-file senators who could be key to finding a way to break the impasse.The House, meanwhile, has canceled its session for next week, keeping the focus on the Senate.Here are three key Democratic senators to watch.We’d like to hear from you about how you’re experiencing the government shutdown, whether you’re a federal employee who can’t work right now or someone who is feeling the effects of shuttered services in your everyday life. Please contact us at tips@nbcuni.com or reach out to us here.Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.Shaheen is in a unique position for a variety of reasons. She’s a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, which is tasked with writing government funding bills, and she loathes shutdowns. Shaheen was just one of two Democratic caucus members (along with Sen. Angus King, I-Maine) who voted for the last Republican bill to avoid a government shutdown, which passed in March.She’s also the lead author of the Democratic bill to make permanent the Obamacare subsidies that will expire at the end of this year, the party’s central demand in the current standoff. And she’s retiring at the end of this term, freeing her from political pressure.“There are a lot of people on both sides of the aisle who think we need to address this,” Shaheen said, of the Obamacare subsidies, citing recent polls that show substantial support for extending them to avoid premium hikes. “I think it’s important, and it’s a message to not only our Republican colleagues, but to the White House.”A source who has spoken to Shaheen said she recognizes the headwinds Democrats face as the minority party and has spoken to colleagues in search of the best possible outcomes on a health care solution. The source spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations among senators. Shaheen is seen by Republicans as someone they can deal with; she’s nobody’s idea of a partisan flamethrower. If there’s a deal to break the logjam, it probably runs through her.Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.Ossoff is the only Democrat running for re-election next year in a state won by President Donald Trump in 2024. The first-term Georgia senator has held his cards close to the vest during the shutdown and has been strategic in his occasional breaks with his party during his Senate career. But in each of the four recent votes on bills to fund the government, he has supported the Democratic plan — which extends Obamacare funding and undoes Medicaid cuts — and opposed the Republican one.Ossoff said his vote is “to keep the government open and to prevent massive increases to Georgians’ health insurance premiums next year.”He faulted Trump for telling Republicans not to negotiate with Democrats, while urging the GOP to “work with us to find a bipartisan path forward and to prevent a massive increase in health insurance premiums for Georgia families.”For now, Trump and Republicans are shouldering more of the blame for the shutdown than Democrats, according to four recent polls. That gives Ossoff some breathing room. But he won’t want to alienate swing voters who may prove crucial to his quest for a second term in an ultra-competitive state.If the public turns on Democrats in the shutdown fight, Ossoff will face immense pressure to flip. If not, it could mean that the GOP strategy of holding out until Democrats feel the heat and cave is failing.Sen. Brian Schatz, D-HawaiiSchatz was one of the 10 key Democrats who voted to drop the filibuster and allow Republicans to pass a six-month government funding bill that prevented a shutdown at the most recent deadline in March. Schatz didn’t vote for the underlying funding bill like Shaheen and King did, but his and other Democrats’ votes to allow Republicans to get around the filibuster provoked a furious response from the liberal base.Schatz is in a unique position as a Schumer deputy who has his finger on the pulse of both the Democratic conference and the party base (including its younger and more online activists). He’s among the limited group of senators who are adept at social media, where much of the debate is taking place. And he’s in pole position to be the next Senate Democratic whip and replace the retiring Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.In the run-up to the current shutdown, Schatz offered “free advice” to Republicans, vowing that “another jam job is not going to work” and that the GOP needs to negotiate with Democrats to achieve a successful product. He made good on that warning.Schatz could be a bellwether for the direction of the caucus and whether a sufficient number of Democrats can accept a bill to reopen the government. If he’s on board, other fence-sitters in the conference may feel more comfortable supporting it.Sahil KapurSahil Kapur is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.

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The federal government remains shut down, with the Senate struggling to find the 60 votes needed to reopen it and no negotiations taking place between the leaders of the two.

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Oct. 4, 2025, 2:01 AM EDT / Updated Oct. 4, 2025, 2:06 AM EDTBy Arata Yamamoto and Jennifer JettTOKYO — Japan’s governing party elected Sanae Takaichi as its new leader on Saturday, setting her up to become the U.S. ally’s first female prime minister.Takaichi defeated Shinjiro Koizumi 185 to 156 in a second-round runoff vote to become leader of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed Japan almost uninterrupted since the end of World War II.The leadership race was triggered last month when Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he would step down after a year in office. Though Takaichi is likely to succeed him as prime minister of Japan, the world’s fourth-largest economy, when parliament votes later this month, it is not guaranteed since the LDP-led coalition lost its majority in both houses in the past year. Takaichi, 64, a conservative nationalist who lists former British leader Margaret Thatcher as one of her role models, was an ally of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving leader.But there are concerns that Takaichi’s nationalistic historical views could cause friction with China, Japan’s top trading partner.Koizumi, 44, the son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, would have been Japan’s youngest leader since Hirobumi Ito, who was just a few months younger than Koizumi when he became the country’s first prime minister in 1885.The party voted on five candidates in the first round, with Takaichi securing 183 votes to Koizumi’s 164. Yoshimasa Hayashi, 64, the top spokesperson for the current Japanese government, came third with 134 votes after a recent surge in polls.Votes in the first round were divided evenly between 294 LDP lawmakers and almost 1 million rank-and-file party members who were represented by 295 votes. Lawmakers favored the more moderate Koizumi, while party members preferred Takaichi, who has a passionate hard-line base. In the second round, lawmakers had the same number of votes while rank-and-file party members had 47, representing the 47 prefectures of Japan.Lawmakers in the second round voted 149 to 145 in favor of Takaichi, while party members gave her 36 votes compared with Koizumi’s 11.Arata Yamamoto reported from Tokyo, and Jennifer Jett from Hong Kong.Arata YamamotoArata Yamamoto has been an NBC News producer in Tokyo since 1993.Jennifer JettJennifer Jett is the Asia Digital Editor for NBC News, based in Hong Kong.

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Japan’s governing party elected Sanae Takaichi as its new leader on Saturday, setting her up to become the U.S. ally’s first female prime minister.

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Oct. 3, 2025, 8:33 PM EDTBy Gary Grumbach and Dareh GregorianA federal judge on Friday ordered a hearing into whether the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia was the result of a “vindictive” prosecution, finding there’s “some evidence” that it was.In his 16-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw in Tennessee noted that the investigation into Abrego was reopened shortly after he successfully challenged to the U.S. Supreme Court what the Trump administration acknowledged was his mistaken deportation to a prison in El Salvador.The investigation also came after numerous administration officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, repeatedly accused Abrego of being guilty of numerous crimes, and being a “gang member” and a “terrorist.” His lawyers and family members have repeatedly denied the claims.”Actual vindictiveness may be apparent based on the Executive Official Defendants’ and their subordinates’ statements about Abrego from the time he filed his Maryland lawsuit” challenging his deportation “through his arrest in this District,” the judge wrote.In his ruling granting Abrego’s request for a hearing on the vindictive prosecution claims, Crenshaw focused on comments that Bondi’s top deputy, Todd Blanche, made on Fox News the day of his June arrest on human trafficking charges, to which Abrego pleaded not guilty.”Strikingly, during a television interview Deputy Attorney General Blanche revealed that the government started ‘investigating’ Abrego after ‘a judge in Maryland . . . questioned’ the government’s decision, found that it ‘had no right to deport him,’ and ‘accus[ed] [the government] of doing something wrong,’” the judge wrote.“Deputy Attorney General Blanche’s remarkable statements,” Crenshaw wrote, “could directly establish that the motivations for Abrego’s criminal charges stem from his exercise of his constitutional and statutory rights to bring suit against the Executive Official Defendants, rather than a genuine desire to prosecute him for alleged criminal misconduct.”Watch: Kilmar Abrego Garcia reunites with family after release from federal custody01:13The judge, nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, said Abrego’s claims also appear to be supported by the timing of the reopening of the criminal investigation, which had started as the result of a traffic stop in 2022 and was deemed to be closed in March of this year, before Abrego was deported. Abrego was released without charges after the 2022 stop.The investigation was reopened a week after Abrego’s win in the Supreme Court in April.”This timeline suggests that Abrego’s prosecution may stem from retaliation by the DOJ and DHS due to Abrego’s successful challenge of his unlawful deportation in Maryland,” the judge wrote.The judge ordered the government to turn over information and evidence being requested by Abrego and said he’ll hold a hearing after that.”After the parties conduct discovery, ‘[i]t may well be that no fire will be discovered under all the smoke[.]’ Indeed, the Government could produce evidence showing legitimate reasons for its prosecution of Abrego that are unrelated to his case in the District of Maryland,” he wrote.Representatives for the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.Abrego, a Salvadoran national who, according to his lawyers, entered the U.S. illegally when he was 16 years old to escape gang violence, is trying to get the criminal charges against him dismissed.He also made a bid to reopen his petition for asylum, but an immigration judge rejected the request in a ruling Thursday. He has 30 days to appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals.A different immigration judge had previously ruled in 2019 that he could not be deported to El Salvador, because he faced danger from a gang that targeted his family. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seeking to deport him to Uganda or Eswatini.Gary GrumbachGary Grumbach is an NBC News legal affairs reporter, based in Washington, D.C.Dareh GregorianDareh Gregorian is a politics reporter for NBC News.Raquel Coronell Uribe contributed.

- Latest News - October 4, 2025

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw said there’s “some evidence” the prosecution was brought in response to Abrego’s successful challenge of his deportation.

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