Rare Trump-GOP spat over beef: From the Policy Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the policy officea newsletter bringing you the latest reporting and analysis of the NBC News Politics team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, our team on Capitol Hill explores a rare disconnect between Republicans in Congress and President Donald Trump. Additionally, Andrea Mitchell examines the key difference between Trump’s efforts to end the war between Israel and Hamas and Russia and Ukraine.

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– Adam Woolner

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Republicans have a rare disagreement with Trump

Written by Melanie Zanona, Frank Thorpe V, and Brennan Leach

Republicans on Capitol Hill are opposing President Donald Trump’s idea to import beef from Argentina, with some making direct calls to the White House to reverse course.

The issue came up during Senate Republicans’ visit to the White House yesterday, according to Majority Leader John Thune, R-D., and Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb. Fisher said she met with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to discuss her concerns.

“I represent a beef-producing state,” Thune told reporters. “We have four times as many livestock as we have people.”

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday that he was considering having the United States buy beef from Argentina. “We will buy some beef from Argentina,” he said, adding, “If we do that, it will bring down our beef prices.”

This issue represents a rare disagreement between Trump and Republicans in Congress.

“I’m really concerned about the direction the president’s comments have shown he might take,” Fisher said when NBC News asked about her message to Trump and his administration.

She too Published on X She said she had “deep concerns” about the proposed policy, saying: “I strongly encourage the Trump administration to focus on trade deals that benefit our agricultural producers — not imports that do more harm than good.”

On the House side, during a GOP conference call yesterday, Wyoming Republican Rep. Harriet Hagman, who has a large presence of ranchers in her district, raised concerns about importing beef from Argentina, according to a GOP source familiar with the meeting. She told her colleagues she wanted more information about the case.

Eight Republican members of the House of Representatives also sent a letter to the White House requesting more information about the decision, saying that “any import policy should hold foreign suppliers to the same stringent standards” to which American industries are held.

“Introducing beef from countries with inconsistent safety or inspection records could undermine the trust that American ranchers have worked for decades to earn,” the House letter continued.

Despite the concerns, Trump does not appear to be backing down. he Published on Social Truth That his tariffs “saved” US ranchers

Read more →

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The main difference between Trump’s peace efforts in Gaza and Ukraine

Analysis by Andrea Mitchell

A proposed second summit between President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin has now been postponed “indefinitely.”

Trump’s hopes to quickly build on the momentum of his Gaza deal by convincing Putin to agree to a ceasefire along the current battle lines in Ukraine are not coming true. This was made clear to Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a conversation this week with veteran Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Putin will not be satisfied with anything less than the restoration of all remaining strategically important Ukrainian territories that he has not yet occupied militarily. This is a condition that Trump has also endorsed intermittently, but it is unacceptable to Ukrainian President Zelensky and his strongest supporters, including Canada and most of Europe.

How did Trump finally manage to come up with what so far appears to be a historic peace agreement in the intractable Middle East, but not in Central Europe? The main difference was clearly his willingness to pressure his ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to abandon his stated goal of overcoming the last vestiges of Hamas resistance, regardless of the losses in the battle. It is a hardline position that Trump was not willing to take with America’s supposed opponent, the Russian president.

Netanyahu made the mistake of angering Trump by attacking Qatar, home to the largest US military base in the Persian Gulf and a mediator in talks with Hamas. But Putin also turned the red carpet and private limousine reception in Alaska during their summit in August into a humiliating diplomatic defeat for the US president. In the weeks that followed, Putin escalated devastating Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities, targeting civilian sites. There was no doubt that Russia was not ready to negotiate peace.

This week, the Trump administration is showering Israel and Gaza with attention, including high-level visits by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Rubio on Thursday. Everyone expresses their patience regarding the outbreak of violence on both sides and the failure of Hamas to hand over the remains of all deceased hostages, and the continued holding of the ceasefire. Aid has begun to be delivered to the hungry sector, although not yet in the promised volume.

The very complex tasks of establishing a credible Palestinian governing body and a legitimate security force for the besieged territories remain. The same goes for mapping the Israeli withdrawal to new borders, and the biggest challenge of transforming the ruins of Gaza into a livable home for its surviving residents. However, the ceasefire and the return of the surviving hostages constitute an exceptional and justified victory for the President and his envoys.

Under pressure, the Treasury Department today announced new economic sanctions on Russia, including on two of the country’s largest oil companies. But the United States has not yet imposed long-promised secondary sanctions on the largest buyers of Russian oil, China and India. Now, if Trump can explain his reluctance to impose any diplomatic or military pressure on Putin, he may be able to resolve another war that jeopardizes what could be another historic foreign policy achievement.

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That’s all from the Policy Office for now. Today’s newsletter is compiled by Adam Woolner.

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