Donald Trump’s empty promises on jobs

In mid-2015, he announced his candidacy for President of the United States. Donald Trump declared He “will be the greatest president God has ever created.”

Then the Republican billionaire tackled the subject thoroughly. The country lost factory jobs because The Democratic Party’s faultbut as he told an audience in Detroit., he would “revive American manufacturing.” Speech at a campaign rally in Warren, Michigan. he declared: “If I win…I promise you won’t lose a single share.”

But with Trump’s election, exactly the opposite happened.During the four years of President Trump, the United States 2.7 million jobs lost. As a result, he became the only president to lead a net employment decline since 1939, when the U.S. government began compiling employment statistics.

Indeed, Mr. Trump was better at creating jobs. significantly exceeded by other presidents. Bill Clinton provided the largest gain of 23 million additional jobs, followed by Ronald Reagan (16 million), Joe Biden (14 million), Lyndon Johnson (12 million), and to George W. Bush (1.4 million people). During the term of President Barack Obama, Trump’s much-maligned predecessor, the United States added 11.6 million jobs.

Trump’s defenders point to the devastating impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the American economy. While the disease crisis certainly hurt his employment during his presidency, it is also true that his employment deteriorated. denial and mismanagement The public health emergency has deepened the human and economic impact in the United States.Moreover, even before the pandemic hit, job creation during the Trump era relatively weak. During President Trump’s first 31 months in office, U.S. job growth averaged 176,000 jobs per month. During Biden’s first 31 months in office, job growth averaged 433,000 jobs a month.

Of course, Trump knows how to create jobs and even touted concrete plans to do so during his 2016 presidential campaign. $1 trillion federal program To rebuild America’s infrastructure. “We’re going to repair our city centers and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools and hospitals.” In his election night speech he declared:. “And we’re going to put millions of people to work as we rebuild.”

But Trump has very different priorities, and throughout his presidency. Infrastructure plans never materialized. As a result, federal investment in roads and bridges as a share of the economy remains stagnant, President Trump’s promises to upgrade ports and airports remain unfulfilled, and federal spending on water infrastructure has fallen to its lowest level in 30 years. .

The Trump administration scrapped the vagrant infrastructure plan and instead passed a bill through Congress in December 2017 that is much more in line with its actual priorities. $1.9 trillion tax cut It favors big corporations and wealthy Americans. “Companies are literally crazy about this” exclaimed Trump. At the same time, adopting the Republican trickle-down approach, the administration promoted the law (the misnamed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) as a job-creation measure. President Trump predicted a boom in business investment and claimed factories “will no longer be abandoned.”

In fact, this did not happen again, and two years later, mass layoffs continued and business investment declined. Remembering President Trump’s false promises about job creation, angry welder A supporter of President Trump in 2016, he criticized the president for choosing tax cuts for the wealthy over infrastructure investments, and he and other construction industry figures have criticized Trump’s promise to rebuild the country. “I was deceived,” he lamented.

Moreover, despite President Trump’s talk about creating manufacturing jobs, the nation actually suffered a net loss. 154,000 of them during his presidency. This was also not surprising since 2016-2018 was the period before the economic hardships caused by the pandemic. 1,800 U.S. factories closed In the US.

Trump administration policies played a significant role in this decline in U.S. manufacturing capacity and employment.the Tariff wars with other countries The problem of the U.S. trade deficit, which has long weakened U.S. manufacturing, has become even more serious. In addition, Its tax policyIncluded in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which encouraged U.S. companies to outsource jobs.

Many factory cities and towns, especially in the Midwest Rust Belt, workers felt the effects A poignant look at Trump’s betrayal. In 2016, President Trump denounced the planned closure of the Rexnord Steel Bearing Plant in Indianapolis and the relocation of operations to Mexico. “No more!” he promised, saying he would raise taxes on companies like Rexnord.But the factory closed, 300 workers lost their jobs, and the company $55 million windfall from administration’s 2017 tax law. One unemployed worker who voted for Mr. Trump was disappointed to be fired after 18 years at the plant, saying, “He told the story that everyone wanted to hear,” but “he told the story that everyone wanted to hear.” I don’t think it saved me.”

Similarly, general motorsThe company, which received $6.9 billion thanks to the administration’s 2017 tax law, announced in November 2018 that it would close its giant auto plant in Lordstown, Ohio, thereby ending employment for 4,500 employees. The company subsequently sold the factory to Lordstown Motors, which employed a total of 100 workers at half-pay by October 2020. But Trump has found it very easy to ignore such disasters. boast During his 2020 re-election campaign, he said his policies had created “one manufacturing miracle after another in Ohio.” But Lordstown’s unemployed workers saw things a little differently. person calling trump “A liar and a cheater”

Overall, President Trump’s record as a “jobs president” has been deeply flawed, but also, sadly, befitting a man famous for: tell participants On a reality show, “You’re fired!”

Lawrence S. Whitner (https://www.LawrenceWitner.com/ ) is professor emeritus of history at the State University of New York/University at Albany and author of “.confront the bomb(Stanford University Press).