Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) says President Trump is making a mistake by calling for a significant increase in beef imports from Argentina to offset rising prices at American grocery stores.

Thune in an interview with Semafor acknowledged Trump is trying to “drive down beef prices” to help American consumers, but he argued that flooding the U.S. market with foreign beef doesn’t make sense.

“This isn’t the way to do it,” Thune said. “It’s created a lot of uncertainty in that market. So I’m hoping that the White House has gotten the message.”

Thune’s comments represent a rare split with the president, who hosted Republican senators for lunch at the White House Tuesday.

Thune’s home state is a major beef producer. Beef production accounts for roughly 9 percent of the state’s

See Full Page