WASHINGTON — With a giant, golden tractor parked in the White House driveway, President Donald Trump on Friday cast himself as a champion of the American farmer, promising to bolster small business loan guarantees for an industry hit hard by his tariffs and rising prices from the war in Iran.

Trump announced the measure during an event at the White House where, speaking before hundreds of farmers from across the country, he declared that the expansion would drive down grocery costs.

Trump also said he was urging major tractor companies, such as John Deere and Caterpillar, to “produce a bigger, better tractor at substantially less money.” And he vowed that his administration would be “cutting out massive amounts of nonsense that are mandated to be put on your tractors and all of your trucks.”

“From Minnesota to Mississippi, we’re lifting up our hardworking farmers and ranchers and growers.”

— The New York Times