By FORD TURNER

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

HARRISBURG (TNS) — Gov. Josh Shapiro ripped into the administration of President Donald Trump on Tuesday, saying it has “injected chaos into literally every hour of every day” and that the president’s tariffs are the “dumbest economic decision I have seen a president make.”

The blistering criticism from Shapiro — a Democrat who is widely acknowledged as a potential 2028 president candidate — came at an event in Dauphin County. There, the governor demanded the Trump administration reverse a recent decision to halt a contract that supplied federal money for a program that lets farmers supply food banks with fresh food.

The program, he said, is a major source of income for some farmers.

And, he said, it helps some people fight hunger.

“If the federal government continues on this path of slashing funding that states are counting on, whether for our farmers or for health care for folks who are poor or disabled, as they are proposing to do with these Medicaid cuts; the state cannot make up those cuts,” Shapiro said. “People are going to suffer as a result of these policy decisions they are making in Washington.”

Shapiro said Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding was notified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that it was halting a contract for the Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program that was worth $13 million a year to Pennsylvania farmers and food banks. The state has a right to appeal, Shapiro said, and he directed Redding to request that the federal decision be rescinded.

He also gave a strong hint that a lawsuit might follow, should the decision be allowed to stand.

He called it “an unlawful action” and said, “We are prepared to take further legal action.”

Trump administration spokesperson Anna Kelly said the Biden administration “crushed American agriculture” with regulatory uncertainty, inflation, trade imbalances and “radical” environmental policies. Trump, she said, is freeing up American energy, cutting regulations, and making sure “farmers have the support they need to feed the world.”

Shapiro was attorney general for six years before being elected governor.

Last month, Shapiro filed a lawsuit over Trump administration actions that froze or in some way blocked state access to $2.1 billion in federal funding soon after Trump became president.

Later, Shapiro said a personal discussion with aides to Trump led to the freeze being lifted on all of the money for Pennsylvania.

On Tuesday, he had support from Redding, who is popular among both Democrats and Republicans. The LFPA program, he said, works with an “amazing network” of food banks in the state, but the partnership with the federal government is critical.

“In this case, it is not being honored,” Redding said.

Redding said the state would continue to work with lawmakers and the federal administration on the disagreement. A Trump administration official said the LFPA program will be sunsetted as the federal government returns to longterm, fiscally responsible initiatives.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the official said, has 16 nutrition programs in place and is focused on food security, markets, and access to nutritious food.

The administration official said no child nutrition program is facing disruption. Those that continue include school lunch, the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, and DoD Fresh. And, the official said, USDA food is still regularly distributed to food banks via The Emergency Food Assistance Program.

The most pointed comments from Shapiro about Trump came in response to a reporter’s question.

“The Trump administration, in a matter of whatever it’s been, about two months, has injected chaos into literally every hour of every day. They are tanking the stock market. They are offending our allies. They are closing down markets to farmers and businesses here in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said.

“The price of goods, from eggs to cars, is on the rise, because of the chaos that the Trump administration has injected into our economy. These tariffs are the dumbest economic decision I have ever seen a president make.”

Gralish/TNS