Podcast: Ag Commissioner Doug Goehring Says Trump’s Trade Efforts “Really Starting to Play Out Pretty Well”
North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring (left) and Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley pose with a drone on a recent trade mission to Israel. Elbit Systems, a Haifa-based technology company is collaborating with the Northern Plains UAS Test Site and North Dakota State University to fly the first large-scale, high altitude unmanned aircraft systems. Special to The Forum
On Friday I interviewed North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring on my radio show.
Earlier in the week I had interviewed his opponent this election year, state Senator Jim Dotzenrod, who was actually quite complimentary of the incumbent. “He’s been pretty good at his job,” Dotzenrod told me.
[mks_pullquote align=”left” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#000000″]”We’ve been on the wrong side of this coin for a while,” he said adding that “some of this is really starting to play out pretty well.”[/mks_pullquote]
“I like Jim,” Goehring said for his own part. ” Jim’s a nice guy.”
Goehring touted his work on improving trade opportunities for North Dakota’s agriculture industry, saying that during his time in office the number of international trade partners the state enjoys has increased from 63 to 84.
Since Goehring brought up trade, I asked him how President Donald Trump is doing on that front. Democrats have invested a lot of political capital in a narrative about Trump putting farmers at risk with his at times belligerent negotiations on trade.
Goehring was measured in his response, describing himself as an “equal opportunity criticizer,” but was largely complimentary of the job Trump is doing.
“We’ve been on the wrong side of this coin for a while,” he said adding that “some of this is really starting to play out pretty well.”
“It could be a little more diplomatic,” Goehring acknowledged, referring to Trump’s tendency to use ridicule as a tactic, but said “maybe it has to happen.”
Here’s the full audio of Friday’s show. If you’d like the audio delivered to your devices every time there’s a new episode, click here and subscribe to the podcast.
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