At Farm Bureau event, claims “tough and strong” farmers cried with tears “coming down their eyes” to thank him for deregulation

In remarks at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual convention, Trump used a recurring testimonial device—unverifiable stories about unnamed “tough and strong” people crying to validate his agenda. While touting deregulation, he claimed that after signing an order/memorandum, people came up to him “crying,” with “their tears coming down their eyes,” because he had “gave them back their property” and “gave them back their farms.” The vignette reframes complex regulatory policy as personal gratitude toward Trump, substituting emotional anecdotes for measurable outcomes and portraying dissent as hostility toward grateful farmers.

"People came to me and they saw me, and they were crying... their tears coming down their eyes, because I gave them back their property, I gave them back their farms." — Remarks at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual convention (Nashville, Tennessee), January 8, 2018