In Wisconsin, Trump talks job training
Administration focused on vocational education
MILWAUKEE — Air Force One touched down here just before
3 p.m. on Tuesday, as Washington remained transfixed by the testimony of Attorney General Jeff Sessions before a Senate committee investigating Russian interference in last year’s election.
Nearly 800 miles beyond the Beltway, President Donald Trump had other things on his mind.
He emerged from his plane after meeting on board with two Wisconsin families he said had “endured enormous pain under the crushing burden of Obamacare.”
“These citizens deserve so much better,” Trump told reporters on the tarmac, before being whisked to a technical college 30 minutes away to talk about the importance of vocational training as part of a series of events the White House is billing as “Workforce Development Week.”
“Just arrived in Wisconsin to discuss JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!” Trump tweeted while en route with his daughter and White House adviser, Ivanka Trump.
On the way to Waukesha County Technical College, Trump’s motorcade passed a billboard on Interstate 94 that read, “Welcome to Waukesha President Trump.”
Several dozen onlookers greeted the president’s party in the college parking lot, where one man held up a “Make America Great Again” sign.
Besides his daughter, who has focused on workforce development issues since joining the White House, Trump was joined at the college by Wisconsin’s Republican Gov. Scott Walker — who touted his state’s low unemployment rate — and two of his Cabinet members, Education Secretary Betsy Devos and Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta.
During a tour, Trump, his daughter and Walker stopped by several large industrial machines, where operators detailed the skills they are learning.
During a subsequent round-table discussion at the school, Trump said that what he had seen “aren’t your normal lecture halls.”
“But in a certain way, they are far more beautiful,” the president said. “You learn incredible skills, like welding and repair.”
“It’s what keeps our nation going,” Trump said of jobs in such trades. “We are going to do everything we can to make sure more young people have opportunities.”
The White House is promising to serve up more substance Wednesday when Trump plans to travel to the Labor Department for what aides have characterized as a major announcement about apprenticeships. Trump said the initiative has been dubbed “Earn While You Learn.”