Trump keeps politics on his Thanksgiving menu
Mogul says he’s trying to save jobs in US
WEST PALM BEACH/WASHINGTON:
US President-elect Donald Trump spent the Thanksgiving holiday at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Thursday, dining with his family at the Florida golf club after revisiting a campaign pledge he made about restoring American manufacturing. Trump, known for his use of Twitter to drive political debate, tweeted about an Indiana air conditioner maker he featured in his election campaign as an emblem of trade deals he said were unfavorable to American workers.
Trump, who has not been seen in public since arriving in Florida on Tuesday, said he was “working hard, even on Thanksgiving, trying to get Carrier A.C. Company to stay in the US (Indiana). MAKING PROGRESS - Will know soon!” Carrier Corp, a division of United Technologies Corp, responded on Twitter that the company has had “discussions with the incoming administration” but had “nothing to announce at this time.” A representative for the company had no additional comment.
Earlier this year, the company said it would move 1,400 jobs to Mexico from Indiana, giving a three-year timetable for the shift. The state’s Republican governor, Mike Pence - later picked by Trump as his vice-presidential running mate decried the decision, and spoke out against it often on the campaign trail. Trump made Carrier’s decision part of his rallying cry against the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. He said he would slap taxes on the company’s air conditioners shipped back to the United States.
Asked by Reuters last week whether the company was reconsidering its decision given Trump’s victory in the Nov 8 election over Democrat Hillary Clinton, the company said in a statement it was “making every effort” to help its Indiana employees during the shift. “By providing three years advance notice of the move and by funding education and retraining programs for up to four years after the move is complete, we are providing employees with both time and opportunity to help them to make a smooth transition,” the company said.
Carrier also cited an agreement it had reached with the United Steelworkers union about compensation for affected workers. Trump’s Thanksgiving comments on Carrier were reminiscent of remarks he tweeted last week about Ford Motor Co, a company he criticized during the campaign for shifting some production lines to Mexico. When Ford informed Trump it would not shift production of a Lincoln sport utility vehicle to Mexico from Kentucky, he took to Twitter to say he saved the plant, although the company had never considered moving the whole factory south of the border.— Reuters