At times, attempting to rationally analyze the Trump administration can be as frustrating as finding feathers on a horse. For a White House that ties itself so closely to the nation of Israel, they have been making strong maneuvers lately to bolster Bayer, which is the direct descendant of IG Farben, the German corporate conglomerate that manufactured the chemical agents used in the Nazi gas chambers, where many Jews were slaughtered. Dr Joseph Farrell remarks aptly:

‘So one wonders, again, who really is in charge of this administation, because politics does, indeed, make strange bedfellows: Israel and Bayer, a component of I.G. Farben! Strange bedfellows indeed’ (‘THE GLYPHOSATE PRESIDENT, OR, IS TRUMP A GMO?,’ gizadeathstar.com).

The most recent action of the Trump White House is the shielding of Bayer from lawsuits related to glyphosate, one of the main ingredients in the herbicide Roundup, via an executive order:

‘President Donald Trump late Wednesday signed an executive order intended to boost domestic production of glyphosate.

‘Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller. Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in June 2018, is facing tens of thousands of lawsuits from people alleging Roundup caused them to develop cancer.

‘Trump’s order also grants legal immunity to domestic manufacturers of products containing glyphosate when manufacturers are ordered, under the Defense Production Act of 1950, to produce the products.

‘The Defense Production Act is used in national emergencies to compel the production of materials or supplies necessary for national security.

‘ . . . The executive order states that it “confers all immunity provided for in section 707 of the Act (50 U.S.C. 4557).” The act itself says “no person shall be held liable” for “any act” resulting from compliance with an order issued under that law, Gillam wrote for The New Lede.

‘Brett Hartl is director of Government Affairs for the Center for Biological Diversity, which has filed multiple lawsuits challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of glyphosate. Hartl told The New York Times that Trump’s order is “alarming because it’s clearly designed to offer a broad immunity.”

‘Bayer has already paid about $10 billion to resolve lawsuits filed against Monsanto before the German chemical giant acquired Monsanto. The company still faces more than 60,000 lawsuits nationally’ (Brenda Belatti, ‘Trump Directs USDA to Make More

Glyphosate, Signals Liability Protection for Pesticide Makers,’ childrenshealthdefense.org).

Bayer/Monsanto has been pursuing various avenues to stop the cash hemorrhaging associated with the many glyphosate lawsuits that have been filed against the corporation, some at the State level and some at the federal level:

‘Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court said it will hear a controversial case that could determine whether Bayer can be held liable for failing to warn people that Roundup weedkiller may cause cancer.

‘The decision came after the Trump administration submitted an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court justices to hear the case. The administration argued that federal laws governing pesticides likely preempt states from making their own labeling requirements.

‘ . . . Last week, Bayer announced that Monsanto had reached a tentative agreement to settle tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging Roundup caused cancer for $7.25 billion.

‘The company has also been rolling out a series of legislative attempts to constrain consumers’ ability to sue it for health damages from glyphosate.

‘Earlier this year, a broad bipartisan coalition of food and environmental health advocates succeeded in eliminating a Bayer-backed provision tucked into a congressional appropriations bill that would have restricted the ability of people to sue the company for failing to warn of health risks if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration didn’t require the warnings.

‘Bayer has been pushing for a similar measure to be written into the pending Farm Bill,

‘The company also created a lobbying group, the Modern Ag Alliance, which has been pushing for laws at the state level to make it harder for consumers to sue over pesticide risks.

‘The state laws would shield Bayer from future lawsuits and potentially nullify at least some of the 67,000 active claims against the company. Georgia and North Dakota have passed these liability shield laws’ (Ibid.).

As seen above, Bayer seems to have found one of its best defenders in the Trump administration:

‘The White House invokes the Defense Production Act to guarantee supplies of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides.

‘Regulators reapprove dicamba, a Bayer herbicide twice blocked by federal courts, and clear the way for new pesticides containing toxic, persistent per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) “forever” chemicals.

‘And the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) urges the U.S. Supreme Court to erase billions of dollars of Bayer’s liability for its glyphosate-based Roundup weedkiller — placing the weight of the executive branch on the side of a foreign company against thousands of Americans who say Bayer’s products caused their cancers.

‘Over the past year, the administration under President Donald J. Trump has delivered a string of victories to Bayer, the German agrichemical and pharmaceutical giant that merged with Monsanto in 2018 to become the world’s leading manufacturer of genetically modified seeds and pesticides.

‘Pesticide industry influence in Washington is not new. The Biden administration also delivered wins to Bayer, including defending pesticide deregulatory measures. But Bayer’s big wins with the Trump administration come as the company seeks sweeping legal protections from cancer lawsuits — at a time when a growing body of scientific research links glyphosate to cancer and other chronic diseases, and cancer rates are rising among young people across the U.S. Corn Belt’ (U.S. Right to Know, ‘Bayer Leverages Ties to Trump’s Washington to Protect Pesticide Empire,’ childrenshealthdefense.org).

Such a policy direction directly contradicts the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda touted by Trump and RFK Jr during the 2024 campaign. But when one looks more closely at the personnel within the Trump White House, the reason for this becomes clearer – there are numerous Bayer-linked lobbyists roaming the corridors of the federal executive branch:

‘These favors to Bayer clash with Trump’s promise to “Make America Healthy Again,” which many supporters understood as a pledge to confront industries linked to chronic disease. They show how a foreign corporation can procure influence at the highest levels of the U.S. government and shape policies that impact health.

‘Our review of Bayer’s access in Washington found 16 key administration officials with ties to Bayer’s lobbying or legal network. Bayer and its lobbyists have access to people in power at the White House, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and even those in high-level positions closest to Trump.

‘Bayer also has a formidable lobbying force in Washington, with 45 people registered to lobby for Bayer under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, and at least 13 outside lobby firms — seven of which are now among the highest-paid firms in D.C.

‘More than 30 senior officials at lobby firms retained by Bayer have direct ties to Trump, having worked in one or both of his administrations or political campaigns.

‘Taken together, these relationships describe a network of aligned actors positioned across the American institutions that write the rules for pesticides, enforce those rules and defend them in court.

‘The implications extend beyond one company or product line: Decisions shaped by Bayer’s access to the Trump administration are affecting pesticide regulation, how chemicals are assessed, our nation’s farm policy and the ability of Americans to seek justice in court’ (Ibid.).

Taken altogether, it may be said rather plainly that corporate capture of regulatory agencies has not disappeared from Washington, D. C., nor from State capitols, despite efforts to drain the big swamp of D. C. and the smaller State swamps (the rather formidable task taken up by the federal and State Freedom Caucuses). Thus, MAHA is quickly being subordinated to making Bayer super-wealthy again.

Those interested in improving the health and well-being of citizens of the States will have to change their tactics going forward. It does not appear that the federal government will be a fully trustworthy partner in that effort in the short-term, due to the presence of powerful corporate lobbyists (and giant corporations, as we have noted before here at The Hayride, are often willing to sacrifice the wellness of people and the environment for various short-sighted reasons). The MAHA advocates will have to focus their work at the local and State levels, where government officials are more responsive to appeals from plain folks, where, for instance, some of these liability shield laws have been killed by the intervention of determined citizens. They will have to talk directly to neighbors and farmers, to help them understand the dangers of glyphosate for people and other living creatures.

All of this is happening at a conspicuous time. We have entered into Lent, the time when Christians remember once again mankind’s expulsion from Paradise because of our rebellion against God’s command to fast from the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We are supposed to make this world Paradise, into the Garden of God, to the best of our abilities, with the help of God’s Grace found in the Church. St Ephraim the Syrian (+373), one of the great poet-theologians of the Church, gives us a glimpse into this:

‘St. Ephraim writes that, “God planted the fair Garden, He built the pure Church; upon the Tree of Knowledge he established the injunction.” He continues:

‘“He gave joy, but they took no delight,

He gave admonition, but they were unafraid.

In the Church He implanted the Word

which causes rejoicing with its promises, which causes fear with its warnings: he who despises the Word, perishes, he who takes warning, lives.

The assembly of saints bears resemblance to Paradise:

in it each day is plucked

the fruit of Him who gives life to all; in it, my brethren, is trodden

the cluster of grapes, to be the Medicine of Life.

Among the saints none is naked, for they have put on glory,

nor is any clad in those leaves or standing in shame,

for they have found, through our Lord,

the robe that belongs to Adam and Eve.

As the Church

purges her ears of the serpent’s poison,

those who had lost their garments, having listened to it and become diseased, have now been renewed and whitened.”

‘The passage presents the Church as the true and restored Paradise’ (Aaron Hickman, ‘Paradise According to St. Ephraim the Syrian,’ uoj.news).

However, the actions of rebellious men, exemplified in the avarice of the leaders of corporations like Bayer, is making the world the opposite of Paradise – a barren desolation more suitable for demons than for those united to Christ the God-man. But the saints of the Church, as St Ephraim wrote, show us the better alternative. May we all have the wisdom and fortitude to follow their example, whether we are inside the government or on the outside of it, during this season of Great and Holy Lent and in all the days that come after it.