President Trump Defends Chinese Ownership of American Farmland
- Dave Price
- 29 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Following his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Donald Trump is now expressing support for Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland. “You want to see farm prices drop? You want to see farmers lose a lot of money?” Trump said during an interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity, “Just take that (Chinese ownership) out of the market.”
Trump had previously been critical of Chinese owners buying American farms.
“We’re going to protect it by saying, ‘You can’t come. You can’t do it. We don’t want you buying our land,’” Trump said during a roundtable discussion in September 2024 at an event sponsored by Protecting America Initiative, according to Epoc Times.
Trump continued, “We don’t want you taking the land and basically taking it off the market.”
National Farm Security Plan
The Trump administration later announced the National Farm Security Plan in 2025. It called for improved tracking of farmland by foreign ownership. It also described its commitment to stop purchases by foreign adversaries.
“USDA will work alongside State and Congressional partners where applicable to take swift legislative or executive action to end the direct or indirect purchase or control of American farmland by nationals from countries of concern or other foreign adversaries,” the USDA’s announcement described.
What is congress doing to limit Chinese ownership of American farmland?
Republican and Democratic politicians in Congress and various states have worked this year to limit future purchases of farms in the United States by Chinese nationals.
Rep. John Moolenaar, a supporter of President and Trump and Michigan Republican who heads the Select Committee on China, told CBS in a statement, “Food security is national security, and we cannot allow foreign adversaries like China to buy up American farmland near our most sensitive military and critical infrastructure sites."
Congressional Democrats including Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Julia Brownley, Jimmy Panetta, and Mike Thompson of California have joined the effort.
Chinese farmland ownership near U.S. military bases
Of particular concern to the group of lawmakers is Chinese interests buying farmland near American military bases or other security-related facilities.
The CBS report included a statement from a Trump administration spokesperson that said President Trump, "is committed to making the United States a premier destination for investment while balancing national security interests — ensuring that America's future remains firmly in American hands."
The USDA shows that the top states for Chinese investor-owned farmland are:
1. Texas (123,708 acres)
2. North Carolina (44,263 acres)
3. Missouri (42,905 acres)
4. Florida (12,555 acres)
5. Virginia (4,654 acres)
The amount of farmland owned by Chinese interests is small overall– less than 1%. In comparison, Canadian interests have more than one-third of the foreign interests in American farmland, according to the USDA.
During his global trade war, President Trump has talked publicly about making Canada the 51st state, although that has never had serious traction in either country.
RELATED: Watch what Harrison Pittman said about heightened attempts by state and federal politicians to limit farmland ownership by certain countries, especially China and North Korea. Pittman also noted that much of the foreign ownership in the United States of agricultural land is in the forestry industry (Canada, the Netherlands and Germany). There is also foreign investment with leases in the wind and solar industries.
