Trump can earn points by making good on jobs promise
As he approaches his fifth month in office, there are two key issues that President Trump can easily get bipartisan support on: pushing forward a massive infrastructure bill and negotiating with foreign companies to build manufacturing plants in the U.S.
If he’s successful on both fronts, it would be a major step toward following through on his campaign promise to bring jobs back to America.
Throughout the campaign, Trump’s message was clear and direct: “I’m going to get Apple to build their computers and iPhones on our land and not in China.”
Two days before the 2016 New Hampshire Primary, I asked Trump about that commitment on Boston Herald Radio.
“Apple is building their stuff in China,” he said. “We want them to build them in New Hampshire and in other places.”
Now it looks like that vow may be fulfilled sooner rather than later. The Associated Press reported last week that Taiwanese company Foxconn has been in negotiations with officials in Wisconsin and Michigan in the hopes of building a manufacturing plant there.
Foxconn, which employes 1.3 million people primarily in China, assembles smartphones and other high-tech devices for Apple, BlackBerry, Sony and other companies. The tech giant, which was purchased by Japan’s Sharp company last year, announced it was mulling investing $7 billion in a U.S. factory that would create display panels. The factory, they said, would create nearly 50,000 jobs.
Considering Trump won Wisconsin by 23,000 votes and Michigan by 11,000 votes, bringing a plant to either of those states would be a huge political victory.
But before we open our doors to Foxconn, Trump will have to make sure there are regulations in place to make sure the company — which has a horrendous track record with its employees — plays by the rules and treats their staffers fairly.
And to make this extremely beneficial deal resonate with voters, the president should herald the accomplishment on his sizable social media platform. Instead of tweeting endlessly about the ongoing Russia investigation or questioning why Hillary Clinton wasn’t indicted, Trump would be smart to focus on highlighting how deals like the Foxconn proposal can benefit American workers. That’s something everyone can agree on.