President Donald Trump promised on Monday he would take more legal and regulatory steps during the next six months to protect United States manufacturers, lashing out against trade deals and trade practices he said have hurt U.S. companies.
Trump climbed into an American-made fire truck parked behind the White House, took a swing with a baseball bat in the Blue Room, and briefly donned a customised Stetson cowboy hat in front of cheering manufacturing company executives from all 50 states gathered to hear him praise their products.
“American workers, farmers and innovators are really the best in the world, we know that and what we’re doing is we’re displaying those talents. You construct and harvest the products that fill our homes, feed our families and defend our nation and enrich our lives,” Trump said.
“I want to make a pledge to each and every one of you: no longer are we going to allow other countries to break the rules, steal our jobs and drain our wealth, and it has been drained, it has been drained.”
He was speaking to a trade show – albeit one with a protectionist bent – organised by the White House to spotlight his efforts to revive the flagging manufacturing sector.
Trump did not give details about what his administration would do to protect manufacturers, other than lower corporate taxes and repeal Obamacare, but he railed against tariffs charged by other countries and unfair trade practices. He told the manufacturers that he was working for a “level playing field” for their wares.
He said, “For our nation to really prosper, we must lower the tax on business– one of the highest in the world– and we must repeal job-killing Obamacare, we have to do that. And I can tell you, we hope John McCain gets better very soon because we miss him.
“He’s a crusty voice in Washington; plus, we need his vote. And he’ll be back. And he will be back sooner than somebody else would be back. He’ll be back soon. But we need that vote and we need a number of votes because we do have to repeal Obamacare and we will end up replacing it with something that is going to be outstanding. Far, far better.”
