Saccone to meet Trump during president’s visit
President Donald Trump will travel to the Pittsburgh area Thursday in the company of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in a visit that will make his case that “we’re ensuring that the forgotten men and women of the country — especially Pennsylvania — are not forgotten any more,” a senior administration official told reporters Wednesday afternoon.
The visit, to H&K Equipment in North Fayette, is slated to take place at 2:30 Thursday afternoon.
The Trump adviser said that Mr. Trump would be met at Pittsburgh International Airport by state Rep. Rick Saccone, the Elizabeth Township Republican who is running for the 18th Congressional District seat in a March 13 special election. Mr. Trump’s visit has been widely regarded as an effort to shore up support for Mr. Saccone. Republicans are said to be concerned that losing this district — which was reliably Republican until former GOP Congressman Tim Murphy stepped down amid scandal last fall — to Democrat Conor Lamb would be a blow to Republican morale prior to the 2018 election cycle.
Asked whether the president would endorse Mr. Saccone during his visit to the 85,000-square-foot H&K facility itself, the official noted that “this is an official event” by the White House, and “as such we are not approaching it [as] a political event.” But he allowed that “the president obviously has the latitude to do things” that staffers could not, apparently leaving the door open to off-the-cuff support during the president’s remarks.
The official stressed that the location had been chosen because
Pennsylvania had supported the President in 2016, and because H&K, which deals in lift-trucks and other industrial equipment, provided “a snapshot of what is happening all over the country. H&K is a perfect example of what we are seeing companies in every corner of the country do.”
Among the policies Mr. Trump plans to highlight during a speech at the facility is “full expensing,” a provision of the recently passed tax-cut plan that allows companies to deduct the cost of equipment in the year that it is purchased, rather than over the course of several years. That, White House officials say, encourages investment by businesses, creating an economic multiplier effect.
Executives at H&K, which was founded in 1983, did not return calls for comment, but “the company has a great story to tell,” said Kevin Shivers, the state director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses. The organization recommended H&K for Mr. Trump’s trip, he said.
“H&K is a great NFIB member, and the White House reached out and asked if there were businesses that would be willing to host the president.” H&K is located somewhat outside the 18th district: Mr. Shivers said, “We understood this to be an official visit, and we handled it accordingly. There were a variety of logistics to meet” including airport access.
Mr. Saccone’s proximity, he said “was a happy accident. ... My organization has had a great relationship with him.” But the principal consideration, he said, was that “H&K is the embodiment of what a good, small business can do if they have capital to grow and expand.”
In addition to Mr. Shivers and H&K executives, Mr. Trump will greet, and speak about, a military veteran who works at the telec o m m u n i c a t i o n s firm Comcast, which like other firms has made headlines for offering $1,000 bonuses to employees in the wake of the tax cut’s passage. Another guest who will speak runs a local staffing firm that has seen an uptick in demand.
“This is the best time ever to believe in the American Dream,” the administration official said, “because the president’s policies have brought it to life in an incredible way.”
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders struck similar notes in a Wednesday press briefing: “2017 was the best year in company history, which they credit to the president’s pro-jobs, pro-worker, progrowth economic agenda,” she said.
The new expensing rules, she added, meant that H&K’s “investments back into the company will be 50 percent higher than last year. That means millions of dollars will be invested in growing their business rather than propping up the bloated government in Washington.”
“All of this economic activity spurred by the tax bill will result in more jobs, higher wages, and a brighter future,” Ms. Sanders said. “The president looks forward to spending time with some of the workers who are reaping the benefits of the tax cuts and reforms, and we know this is just the beginning.”