本月11月选举中陷入胶着竞争的共和党人正拼命希望特朗普政府最后一刻的举措能奏效：向农民发放80亿美元纳税人资金。
Republicans locked in tight races this November are desperately hoping the Trump administration’s last-minute gambit to send farmers $8 billion in taxpayer money will work.
特朗普总统周一在堪萨斯州为处于危险中的共和党参议员罗杰·马歇尔举行的集会上宣布了这笔新资金，旨在帮助因柴油价格高企而挣扎的农民。此举发生在白宫官员竭力回应农业州共和党人愤怒之际。特朗普进口更多外国牛肉的决定、他的关税制度以及伊朗战争期间的高燃油成本，已激怒了本就举步维艰的农民和牧场主——这是共和党的关键选民群体。
President Donald Trump announced the new round of money, aimed at farmers struggling with high diesel prices, during a Monday rally for at-risk GOP Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas. The move comes as White House officials have scrambled to address anger in farm states from Republicans. Trump’s decisions to import more foreign beef, his tariff regime and high fuel costs amid the Iran war have riled already strained farmers and ranchers — a key GOP voting bloc.
农民还要再等几周才能知道能拿到多少钱。即使获批，根据三位知情人士透露，他们最早也要等到11月下旬或12月初才能收到款项，这三人因获准匿名而分享了细节。
Farmers won’t know how much money to expect for several more weeks. Even then, if approved, they won’t receive the payments until late November or early December at the earliest, according to three people close to the plans, granted anonymity to share details.
距离选举仅剩两周，这项新援助可能来得太晚，无法说服一些选民。
With two weeks to go before the election, the new aid may also arrive too late to convince some voters.
但共和党高层正指望这项公告能遏制农业州共和党的流失——尤其是在中西部，马歇尔、爱荷华州共和党参议员候选人阿什莉·希森以及密歇根州共和党参议员候选人迈克·罗杰斯在竞选中都举步维艰。在某些情况下，他们已公开与特朗普在高物价和战争问题上决裂。
But top Republicans are banking on the announcement to stem GOP bleeding in farm states — especially in the Midwest, where Marshall, GOP Senate nominee Ashley Hinson in Iowa and GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers in Michigan have been struggling in their election campaigns. In some cases, they've broken with Trump publicly on high prices and the war.
“这将很大程度上确保养活我们的人在最需要的时候能稍微轻松一些，”众议员德里克·范·奥登说，指的是他选区的农民。这位共和党人正在威斯康星州第3选区农村为主的选区进行一场竞争激烈的角逐。
“This will go a long way to making sure the folks that feed us have it a bit easier when they most need it,” said Rep. Derrick Van Orden, referring to the farmers in his district. The Republican is locked in a highly competitive race in a rural-heavy stretch in Wisconsin’s 3rd District.
然而，根据三位获准匿名讨论私下对话的特朗普官员透露，特朗普动用的这笔由纳税人资助的美国农业部内部账户目前并没有足够的资金来支付这笔款项，这意味着国会将不得不批准新的拨款，或者政府将不得不从其他项目中挪用资金。
However, the internal USDA taxpayer-funded account Trump is tapping for the payments doesn’t actually have enough money in it right now to make the payments, meaning Congress will have to approve the new funds or the administration will have to take it from another program, according to three Trump officials who were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.
据这三位特朗普官员称，面临比预期更艰难的连任竞选、身处深红州的马歇尔，以及众议员奥斯汀·斯科特（共和党-佐治亚州），是推动这80亿美元拨款的共和党人之一。
Marshall — who’s facing a tougher-than-expected reelection campaign in deep-red territory — and Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) were among the Republicans who helped push for the $8 billion, according to the three Trump officials.
马歇尔曾在9月致信农业部长布鲁克·罗林斯，要求政府拨款帮助农民应对飙升的燃油成本。
Marshall requested the administration allocate money to assist farmers with spiked fuel costs in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in September.
“罗杰·马歇尔是为这件事而战的领袖，”特朗普在周一的集会上说道。
“Roger Marshall is the leader who fought for that to happen,” Trump said during the Monday rally.
马歇尔和斯科特的发言人均未回应置评请求。白房子将《政治报》引向美国农业部关于这笔资金的公告。
Spokespeople for Marshall and for Scott did not respond to requests for comment. The White House referred POLITICO to USDA’s announcement on the money.
美国农业部发言人哈里·福恩斯在一份声明中表示，该援助计划是特朗普“为农民兑现承诺的最新行动”，该部门正在积极审查数据以确定支付款项。
USDA spokesperson Harry Fones said in a statement that the aid package is Trump’s “latest action to deliver” for farmers and the department is actively reviewing the data to determine payments.
据两位特朗普官员和另一位知情政府官员透露，特朗普做出这一决定，也是在政府官员意识到总统先前采取的让非公路柴油更广泛可用的措施，与其他选项相比，对农业地区的益处有限之后作出的。主要农业游说团体进一步警告称，柴油计划实际上可能会给农民带来反效果，因为他们最终仍可能被要求为该产品缴税——只是推迟到更晚的时候。
Trump’s decision also comes after administration officials realized the president’s previous step to make off-road dyed diesel more widely available had limited benefits for farm country over other options, according to two of the Trump officials and another administration official involved in the matter. Top agriculture lobbyists further warned the dyed diesel plan could actually backfire on farmers, because they could still be required to pay taxes on the product — just further down the road.
因此，特朗普政府官员敲定了这笔80亿美元的直接农户补贴，因为类似的农户补贴——可追溯至总统首次贸易战的2018年——已足以平息足够多的农户和农村选民愤怒，在选举季为共和党巩固必要的支持。
So, Trump officials settled on the $8 billion tranche of direct money for farmers, given that similar kinds of payments to farmers — dating back during the president’s first trade war in 2018 — have quelled enough farmer and rural voter anger to shore up necessary support for Republicans during election season.
特朗普政府官员和中西部共和党操盘手正指望这笔资金在本轮周期再次巩固支持——尤其是那些愤怒但又不愿投票给民主党的共和党选民。特朗普将于本周四前往爱荷华州——该州顶尖共和党人几周前因内部民调显示可能输掉所有三个爱荷华州众议院席位、关键参议院席位以及农业州其他原本稳固的红色席位而感到担忧。
Trump officials and Republican operatives in the Midwest are banking on the money shoring up support again this cycle — especially for GOP voters who are angry but also don’t want to vote for Democrats. Trump heads this Thursday to Iowa — where top Republicans have been worried about internal polling that warned several weeks ago they could lose all three Iowa House races, key Senate races and other once-safe red seats across farm states.
“这将有助于把农户的选票拉出来，”参议员查克·格拉斯利（共和党-爱荷华州）周二对《政治报》（POLITICO）谈及特朗普的计划时表示。
"It's going to help bring farmers' votes out," Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told POLITICO of Trump’s plan on Tuesday.
“这是联邦政府介入帮助农户的一种方式，帮助他们应对并非自身过错造成的问题，”他说。
"This is some way that the federal government can step in to help farmers for problems that they face through no fault of their own,” he said.
据两位知情人士透露，大多数国会山共和党人——包括拨款委员会成员——并未提前获得特朗普宣布的消息，截至周二上午，许多人仍未从美国农业部（USDA）收到任何细节。这两人因分享私下细节而获准匿名。
Most Hill Republicans weren’t given a heads-up about Trump’s announcement, including appropriators, and many hadn’t received any details from USDA as of Tuesday morning, according to two people familiar with the conversations who were granted anonymity to share private details.
主要农业团体警告称，今年秋季他们至少需要500亿美元直接援助，才能在关税、天气相关灾害以及伊朗战争扼杀农业物资供应导致的其他高昂成本冲击下，让农户收支平衡。农业州共和党人正推动在单独的年底立法包中至少增加120亿美元直接农户补贴。
Top agriculture groups have warned they’d need at least $50 billion in direct aid this fall to make farmers whole following the impacts of tariffs, weather-related disasters and other high costs linked to the Iran war’s chokehold on agricultural supplies. Farm-state Republicans are pushing to add at least $12 billion in direct farm aid payments to a separate year-end legislative package.
周一的援助推出此前，已在摇摆农村选区宣布过多轮其他资金拨付。白宫今年早些时候已发放首轮120亿美元救助资金，用于因特朗普关税议程而受重创的主要农产品种植户。
Monday’s aid rollout followed a number of other funding announcements made in swing rural districts. The White House doled out a first round of $12 billion in bailout funds earlier this year for growers of top agricultural commodities who were hit hard by Trump’s tariff agenda.
在佐治亚州，Rollins与共和党参议员候选人Mike Collins一同宣布，上周将提供33亿美元贷款建设一座发电厂。本月早些时候，Rollins与面临连任压力的爱荷华州众议员Zach Nunn和Marianette Miller-Meeks一同推出了1.8亿美元的种子研究资金。
Alongside Republican Senate candidate Mike Collins in Georgia, Rollins announced a $3.3 billion loan to build a power plant last week. Rollins rolled out $180 million in funding for seed research alongside vulnerable Iowa Reps. Zach Nunn and Marianette Miller-Meeks earlier this month.
特朗普还表示，他在堪萨斯州的集会上将批准长期搁置的全年永久销售乙醇——这将对中西部玉米种植者至关重要。但该提案在国会长期受阻。
Trump also said he would approve long-derailed permanent year-round sales of ethanol during the Kansas rally — which would be a critical boon for corn growers across the Midwest. But the move has been long-stalled in Congress.
“如果Roger Marshall在参议院，我们将使全年E15永久化。但如果Adam Hamilton入选，我就不这么做，”特朗普说。“这对堪萨斯州来说，实际上是一件大事。”Rachel Shin参与报道。
“With Roger Marshall in the Senate, we will make year-round E15 permanent. But if Adam Hamilton is in, I’m not doing it,” Trump said. “That’s a big deal for Kansas, actually.”Rachel Shin contributed reporting.