White House defends Trump’s beef import plan after report on billionaire’s influence

The White House defended President Trump’s decision to temporarily suspend higher tariffs on ground beef imports amid a report that a Brazilian billionaire influenced the decision.

“President Trump’s action to address a short-term supply crunch in the beef market was the result of a long policy planning and coordination process involving domestic stakeholders; this action was not done as the result of any one conversation,” a White House official told NewsNation, The Hill’s sister network.

“At the same time, the Trump Administration continues to work with American farmers and ranchers to grow America’s cattle herd, which is currently at a multi-decade low,” the official continued.

Trump in a social media post Friday announced the suspension on ground beef tariffs, saying it would be for 90 days and would allow up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef to be imported at a 25 percent discount below market price.

The president wrote that the deal — which has received criticism from GOP lawmakers — was intended to “substantially lower the price of ground beef for working American families” and “reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again.”

When asked at Joint Base Andrews which countries were involved in the deal, Trump said, “There are a few countries, but they’re going to be sending in the highest quality beef, and it’s something that we need.”

The day before the announcement, Trump reportedly met with Joesley Batista — who shares control of JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker — in the Oval Office, according to a Monday report from The Wall Street Journal .

The Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that during this meeting, Batista lobbied Trump to drop the 26 percent import tax as a solution to the rising cost of the diet staple.

The report noted that Pilgrim’s Pride, the U.S.’s second-largest chicken processor and controlled by JBS, contributed $5 million to Trump’s inauguration, making it the biggest donor.

Batista and his brother Wesley Batista were previously fined in 2020 by the Justice Department over charges that they violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by using funds obtained through a bribery scheme to expand its U.S. operations. They agreed to pay a $256 million fine.

The Batistas also admitted at the time to spending roughly $150 million to bribe more than 1,800 Brazilian government officials to secure $1.3 billion in loans from the Brazilian Development Bank and federal pension funds.