The Trump administration promises US farmers $15bn in aid on the eve of the midterms
The US Department of Agriculture has announced more than $15bn in payments and initiatives for farmers in the weeks before the midterms, to offset higher diesel and fertiliser costs. More than half is an $8bn one-time payment for diesel costs.
Left 0 · Centre-left 2 · Centre 0 · Centre-right 1 · Right 0
ContextSources by leanVideoDeep diveFollow the moneyMore coverage
How each side framed it
Left-leaning outlets
'Trump administration promises US farmers $15 billion in weeks before the midterms' (The Independent; Associated Press).
Centre outlets
No least-biased (centre) outlet in our sample covered it.
Right-leaning outlets
'Trump pledges $15B for farmers struggling with costs ahead of midterm elections' (New York Post).
Context
We write the background for the day's biggest stories; for this one, start with these searches. How it works.
Search for more (live results, not checked by us): Wikipedia search · Explainers (Google News search) · Background and history (Google News search)
Sources by lean
Balanced: the same number of articles from the left, the centre and the right (up to 3 each). The bar above still counts every rated outlet we found. Bias and factual ratings come from Media Bias/Fact Check. How we balance · All ratings.
Left 1
Centre 0
No centre coverage found — blindspot
Right 1
Showing 1 from left and right of 3 rated outlets (L 2 / C 0 / R 1). Capped at 1 because that is all we found on the thinnest side. More coverage
Video
News reports, explainers and podcasts on YouTube. We pick and balance videos for the day's biggest stories; for this one, use these searches. Links open YouTube, which has its own privacy policy; nothing from YouTube loads on this page.
YouTube searches (live results, not checked or balanced by us): News videos · Explainers · Podcasts
Deep dive
A short prompt for thinking it through. We write a fuller side-by-side deep dive for the day's biggest stories.
The paradox: The New York Post's own report says the higher costs are largely due to tariffs and the war in Iran, so the aid offsets costs that federal policy helped create.
What each side may be protecting: Both: farm incomes.
A question to hold: Shared question: is one-off aid or lower input costs the better long-term fix for farmers?
Try it: open one left and one right article in Sources by lean and note what each takes for granted.
Follow the money
Not yet researched. We haven't yet looked at who gains or loses financially from this story, or who funds the main voices on each side. When we do, we check company filings, the Electoral Commission donations register, lobbying registers, annual reports, InfluenceMap and OpenSecrets, and we apply the same checks to every side. How we follow the money.
Who owns or funds the outlets covering this story (3 outlets)
| Outlet | Lean | Ownership & funding (MBFC) |
|---|---|---|
| Associated Press | Centre-left | The Associated Press (AP) is a nonprofit news cooperative with a profit of $1.6 million in 2016. It also sells content to other media organizations. According to an article titled “ AP reports loss on one-time accounting charges,” t he Associated Press lost $74 million in 2017, and it states the reason as “mostly due to one-time accounting charges related to the federal tax overhaul passed late last year.” source |
| The Independent | Centre-left | The Independent is owned by Independent Print Limited, a company owned by the Lebedev family (Alexander Lebedev and his son Evgeny Lebedev). In 2017, Saudi Businessman Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel bought a 30% stake in the Independent online newspaper. Advertising and subscription generate revenue for the paper..push({}); source |
| New York Post | Centre-right | The New York Post is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, which owns many conservative/sensational media outlets worldwide. The paper is funded through advertising, subscriptions, and newsstand sales. source |