President Donald Trump has unleashed the Justice Department on America’s meatpacking overlords, pinning the blame for burger-busting beef prices squarely on “majority foreign owned” firms that he says are colluding like cattle in a corral.
The presidential post, dropped Friday amid a weekend of what-the-heck weather, demanded an “immediate” antitrust probe into price-fixing and manipulation. It’s the kind of move that has economists chuckling nervously and ranchers wondering if their next steak dinner comes with a side of subpoenas.
Trump didn’t mince words—or wordsmiths—in his missive. “I am asking the DOJ to act expeditiously,” he declared, vowing to shield consumers from “Illegal Monopolies” and corporations “criminally profiting at the expense of the American People.” Because nothing says “America First” like ensuring your Fourth of July hot dog doesn’t cost as much as a down payment.
Wholesale beef prices, those shadowy figures that whisper sweet nothings to inflation hawks, leaped 16% this year alone, per the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Blame it on the cattle herd shrinking to a seven-decade low, courtesy of droughts that turned pastures into parking lots.
Meat processors, meanwhile, are bawling about operating at losses projected straight through 2026. Julie Anna Potts, the no-nonsense CEO of the Meat Institute lobbying squad, welcomed a “fact-based discussion” on affordability. Translation: “Sure, chat all you want—just don’t forget we’re the ones turning moo into moolah for your midnight munchies.”
The timing? Chef’s kiss of political panache. High living costs just handed Democrats a bouquet of off-year election wins over Trump’s GOP, with polls slapping the president with economy-handling grades that’d make a report card blush. Advisers are now swearing off grand gestures for grocery-store grit, and meat’s the main course in this affordability appetizer.
Ground beef smashed records at supermarkets this year. Rebuilding the U.S. herd? That’s a years-long yoga pose for the industry, meaning your wallet might stay on a low-carb diet a while longer.
Trump’s tweet torpedoed shares of Brazil’s JBS NV, the globe’s beef behemoth, by up to 6.2% in after-hours trading. Their chicken arm, Pilgrim’s Pride, had forked over $5 million to Trump’s inauguration bash—talk about a donor discount gone sour.
Pork peddler Smithfield Foods, under Hong Kong’s WH Group thumb, took a tumble too, while Tyson Foods dipped then bounced like a bad check. Cargill, the privately held packing powerhouse, stayed mum as a monk at midnight mass. No comment? That’s just prime rib-eye avoidance.
This isn’t Trump’s first rodeo with the ranch. Late in his debut term, the DOJ kicked off an antitrust poke at the packers. Biden kept the fire flickering but never filed charges, opting instead for a 2022 snitch line for farmers griping about gouges.
The industry has coughed up hundreds of millions in price-fixing settlements over the years. Critics call it concentration camp for competition; packers call it efficient elbow grease.
DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater replied with bureaucratic brisket: “Ending the week with a new assignment, thank you for your attention to this matter, sir.” In D.C. speak, that’s code for “Pass the antacids.”
But hold the ketchup—Trump’s allies in farm-belt fiefdoms are forking over pushback. His pitch to flood markets with tariff-free Argentine beef? It’s got cattle kings crying foul, fearing it’ll undercut U.S. udders faster than a vegan at a steakhouse.
Cattle futures, those crystal-ball critters, cooled off lately on import jitters. Ongoing trade tangoes with Mexico and Brazil could goose supplies eventually. Yet retail relief? That’s like waiting for a cow to learn calculus—slow, messy, and full of unexpected burps.
Trump doubled down in a follow-up post, sniffing collusion in the numbers. “While Cattle Prices have dropped substantially, the price of Boxed Beef has gone up—Therefore, you know that something is ‘fishy,’” he wrote. Fishy in a beef probe? Now that’s what we call a red herring with relish.
As grills fire up nationwide, one thing’s clear: This beef bout could drag on like a well-marbled brisket. Will it tenderize prices or just leave everyone chewing the fat? Stay tuned—your next grocery run depends on it.
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