On March 27, 2026, Trump hosted what his administration called “the single largest gathering of American farmers that the White House has ever seen” on the South Lawn, complete with a gold tractor. Black farmers were conspicuously absent.
John Boyd Jr., founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association representing tens of thousands of Black farmers, said he asked to attend and reached out to the White House Office of Public Liaison. His inquiry went unanswered. Boyd described it as “an all-white farm meeting with the all-white audience that excluded Black farmers.”
Boyd's exclusion was not accidental. A White House official had previously told him the administration was “doing away” with farmers of color programs, saying the prioritized farmers “happen to be white” and “this is not about race.”
Two days before the event, the USDA canceled remaining grants from a $300 million Biden-era program designed to help minority farmers buy and keep land. The USDA claimed the program “involved discriminatory preferences based on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” and cited alleged wasteful spending. Twenty states and DC sued over the cancellation.
At the event, Trump claimed “farm income has soared by 20%” — but USDA forecasts show 2026 income will actually decline. He touted a $12 billion farmer aid package, but Boyd says “farmers have not received a dime” and calls the claim “a lie” — signup has been repeatedly postponed from November to February to April. Meanwhile, 190 Black farmers represented by Boyd face farm foreclosures, and only 0.3% of farm estates actually face the estate tax Trump highlighted eliminating.