Donald Trump’s latest attempt to appeal to American farmers involves imagining that he’s ever operated a piece of farm equipment.

The country’s agriculture industry is in the toilet—largely thanks to the president’s volatile tariff plan, which has destabilized relationships with some of the industry’s biggest foreign markets. In the middle of announcing a $12 billion bailout package to offset the damage he caused to America’s farmers on Monday, Trump claimed that lawn mowers (of all things) had become so difficult to operate that you’d need to be a certified genius in order to turn on the ignition.

“Farming equipment has gotten too expensive, and a lot of the reason is because they put these environmental excesses on the equipment which don’t do a damn thing except make it complicated, make it impractical,” Trump said. “In many cases, you need about 185 IQ to turn on a lawn mower now.”

Trump: In many cases, you need about 185 IQ to turn on a lawnmower. pic.twitter.com/F9iIapMrIt

This is coming from the same very down-to-earth billionaire real estate mogul who claimed in 2017 that he didn’t want a “poor person” in his presidential Cabinet, and earlier this year threw a Great Gatsby-themed party at Mar-a-Lago during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, as well as paved over the White House’s rose garden and repeated that he believes the term groceries is “an old-fashioned word.”

“We have a term, groceries,” Trump told the leaders of the United Arab Emirates in May. “It’s an old term, but it means basically what you’re buying, food, it’s a pretty accurate term but it’s an old-fashioned sound but groceries are down.”

Trump’s tariffs have devastated the American farming industry from both ends, hurting both supply and demand by raising costs on equipment and fertilizer while nixing key international markets such as China.

When the bailout was initially pitched in September, Trump said he intended to use the country’s supposedly surplus tariff money to subsidize American soybean farmers, though his concept of how much cash could be infused to America’s food producers was not coherent. Speaking with reporters, Trump mixed up “billions” and “millions,” apparently confused on the specifics of what government funds could amount to actual aid. Meanwhile, the Trump administration moved forward with a plan to send $40 billion in aid to Argentina.

Protesters packed the Indiana Statehouse Monday to fight against Republican plans to redraw the state’s congressional maps to give their party an extra advantage and eliminate the state’s two Democratic congressional seats.

President Trump has pushed for the redistricting, which passed Indiana’s House of Representatives last week. Republicans in the state Senate have warned that there aren’t enough votes for new maps to pass, which Trump has met with insults and threats.

Monday is the last day for public testimony on the bills, and the past week has been full of dueling pro- and anti-redistricting rallies. Loud chants of “Stop the steal” filled the statehouse as lawmakers in the Senate Committee on Elections began their session Monday afternoon, with many protesters bringing homemade signs.

People already starting to chant now.

Last week, anti- redistricting organizers held a rally earlier in the day and saw numbers dwindle once lawmakers gaveled in. Not the case this week. Protesters organized around when lawmakers are scheduled to meet today. pic.twitter.com/tVaGLSx3Yt

Similar to other anti-redistricting and anti-Trump protests, lots of homemade signs: pic.twitter.com/kbmSlakXwz

When public testimony began, pro-redistricting speakers were booed and heckled. One person yelled that Republicans were stacking the deck with redistricting supporters, which may be true considering those who signed up to testify on the bill stated their position on the form. Committee chairs often group speakers by position, according to the Indianapolis Star’s Cate Charron.

CNN’s Eric Bradner said that Monday’s anti-redistricting rally was much larger than the pro-redistricting rallies at the Statehouse, including one last week organized by Turning Point USA. The reason for that, CNN reports, is that there isn’t much enthusiasm among Indiana Republicans, with much of the pro-redistricting pressure coming from national groups such as TPUSA and the Club for Growth.

Trump likely sees redistricting as the only way to protect his presidency from a hostile Democratic Congress, and is threatening to support primary challengers to Republican senators who oppose redistricting and calling them names on his Truth Social account. At least 11 elected Indiana Republicans have faced swatting threats, including state Senator Greg Goode, who hadn’t even made any public comments about redistricting.

But in spite of the pressure campaign, Indiana Republicans are not coming out in droves to support the idea.

“It’s ridiculous to bring the whole thing up to begin with, but it’s what the president wants,” Debbie Myers, a Republican small-business owner in Martinsville, Indiana, told CNN about redistricting. “It’s wrong, and it’s a waste of money and a waste of these people’s time, and I don’t think it should have happened.”

President Trump’s former lawyer and interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba is stepping down from her role in the wake of a 3–0 appeals court ruling that found she was “unlawfully” serving in the position.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit  agreed with a lower court’s ruling that Habba was given the U.S. attorney position through a “novel series of legal and personnel moves” and was not legally able to take the job. 

“While I was focused on delivering real results, judges in my state took advantage of a flawed blue slip tradition and became weapons for the politicized left.... They joined New Jersey senators, who care more about fighting President Trump than the well being of residents which they serve,” Habba wrote in her resignation letter, posted on X. “As a result of the Third Circuit’s ruling, and to protect the stability and integrity of the office which I love, I have decided to step down in my role as the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. But do not mistake compliance for surrender. This decision will not weaken the Justice Department and........

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