The federal government has given $25.8 million to farmers so far this month to help them weather President Trump’s trade war, a Department of Agriculture spokesman said Friday.

The cash was among the first payments of what the Trump administration said will eventually be a $12 billion bailout, which aims to help farmers deal with retaliatory tariffs foreign countries imposed on their products, The Washington Post reported.

The retaliatory tariffs lessened demand for US products overseas and led to domestic surpluses that deflated some prices at home.

From Sept. 4 through Thursday, the USDA received 39,447 applications for aid and approved 7,851 so far, the spokesman said.