A video circulating widely on social media Sunday appears to show President Donald Trump announcing that the United States will buy Argentine beef while dismissing concerns about struggling American farmers.
The video is authentic, but it is not new.
Trump made the comments aboard Air Force One on Oct. 19, 2025, according to the officially archived exchange. The X post displaying the video was published Aug. 23, 2026, without prominently explaining that the footage was approximately 10 months old.
In the original exchange, Trump said buying a limited amount of Argentine beef could lower U.S. prices while assisting the government of Argentine President Javier Milei. When a reporter asked about American farmers, Trump responded that Argentina was "fighting for its life" and "dying."
The footage has regained attention because Trump announced a separate beef-import initiative Friday that could bring substantially more foreign meat into the United States.
Under the new proposal, the administration would allow as much as 300,000 metric tons of lean beef trimmings to enter the country during a 90-day period without triggering the higher tariff normally applied to imports exceeding established quotas. That amounts to approximately 661 million pounds of beef.
Trump said foreign suppliers had agreed to sell the product at 25% below current market prices. However, the administration has not identified the participating countries, exporters or importers. It also has not explained how the discount would be passed through processors and retailers to shoppers.
Contrary to the implication created by the resurfaced video, the administration has not said all 300,000 metric tons will come from Argentina. Trump is expected to formalize the arrangement through an executive order, according to The Washington Post.
Argentina already received additional access to the U.S. market earlier this year. A February presidential proclamation authorized another 80,000 metric tons of Argentine lean beef trimmings in 2026, divided into four quarterly allocations. Combined with Argentina's existing quota, the country could export up to 100,000 metric tons under the expanded framework. The White House said the measure was intended to increase supplies used for ground beef.
The immediate benefit to consumers remains uncertain.
Trump's promised 25% discount applies to the imported product, not necessarily the final supermarket price. Economists interviewed by Reuters questioned whether the additional volume would be large enough to reduce retail prices significantly.
Americans paid an average of $7.12 per pound for uncooked ground beef in July, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Prices have remained elevated as drought, feed expenses and a diminished breeding herd constrain domestic production.
The latest USDA inventory counted 94.2 million cattle and calves on U.S. farms as of July 1. Although the total increased slightly from 2025, the number of beef cows fell 1% to 28.5 million and the projected calf crop declined 2%. Those figures indicate that rebuilding the beef supply will take time.
Cattle organizations argue that temporarily cheaper imports could discourage ranchers from retaining cows and investing in herd expansion. Cattle futures fell after Friday's announcement, Reuters reported.
The viral post also claims that 77 American cattle producers are going out of business every day. That description is misleading.
USDA's 2022 Census of Agriculture found that the country lost more than 140,000 farms of all types between 2017 and 2022. Dividing that five-year net decline produces an average of roughly 77 farms a day. But the figure covers all agricultural operations, not exclusively cattle producers, and it does not represent a verified current daily rate of ranchers declaring bankruptcy or closing businesses. The USDA census is conducted only once every five years.
