President Donald Trump returned to his populist “America first” message Tuesday, visiting a state key to his presidential victory where he signed an executive order to discourage businesses from hiring low-wage workers abroad and to require the government to buy more from U.S. firms.
Appearing at the southeast Wisconsin headquarters of Snap-on Inc., a tool, automotive and industrial diagnostics equipment manufacturer and distributor, Trump tried to bolster his “Buy American, Hire American” campaign pledge.
During his remarks, Trump also promised quick work on tax reform — though Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who also attended, has said such action isn’t likely to begin until August at the earliest. In addition, the president urged that action on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, take place first despite ongoing divides within the Republican-controlled Congress on how to do it.
And Trump once again said the North American Free Trade Agreement should be scrapped unless major changes to benefit U.S. firms and workers could be achieved.
“Together, we’re going to do everything in our power to make sure that more products are stamped with those wonderful words, ‘Made in the USA,'” Trump said, paying homage to the Snap-on workforce in lauding the value of U.S. jobs to rebuild the country.
“For too long we have watched as our factories have been closed and our jobs have been sent to other, faraway lands,” the president said. “This election, the American people voted to end the theft of American prosperity. They voted to bring back their jobs and to bring back their dreams into our country.”
When controversies emerge, Trump frequently heads out of the White House for campaign-style rallies. The president has found himself facing questions about reversals involving U.S. military actions in Syria and Afghanistan, growing tensions over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and a declaration that China does not manipulate its currency. Trump, now needing China to help defuse the U.S. situation with North Korea, had declared China a currency manipulator during the campaign.
A Pew Research Center poll released the day before Trump’s visit found the president’s national approval rating unchanged from two months ago at 39 percent. The percentage of Americans who disapprove was about the same: 54 percent compared with 56 percent in February.
Though manufacturing no longer takes place at Snap-on’s Kenosha campus — that’s done at 10 other U.S. sites including nearby Milwaukee — Trump returned to a comfortable theme of pledging to restore domestic manufacturing to improve the nation’s economy and spur job growth.
In signing the executive order, Trump said, “American projects should be made with American goods. No longer are we going to allow foreign countries to cheat our producers and our workers out of federal contracts.”
The president also said the order was “designed to protect jobs and wages of workers in the United States.”
“We believe jobs must be offered to American workers first. Does that make sense?” he asked during his 20-minute speech. “Right now, widespread abuse in our immigration system is allowing American workers of all backgrounds to be replaced by workers brought in from other countries to fill the same job for sometimes less pay. This will stop.”
The executive order Trump signed will affect the issuance of what is known as H-1B visas, which are often used by technology companies to recruit workers from foreign countries.
During the campaign, Trump was critical of the visa program and pledged to end it, saying firms were using it to import cheap labor at the expense of U.S. jobs. Under the program, the government admits about 85,000 immigrants each year, largely for work in high-technology jobs.
The executive order falls short of ending the program but dramatically restructures it by requiring applicants and their potential employers to show that the visas are going only to “the most highly skilled workers” in their fields.
The order also directs all federal agencies to re-examine waivers and exceptions to government rules and trade agreements that require a preference for purchasing from American companies.
“With this action we are sending a powerful signal to the world: We’re going to defend our workers, protect our jobs and finally put America first,” Trump said.
Job growth, particularly in manufacturing, has been key to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” mantra — vowing to “bring back” the jobs of voters who have felt the sting of employment losses and regional economic declines as manufacturing jobs moved out of the country because of globalization or were overtaken by automation.
Snap-on CEO Nicholas Pinchuk noted the “interesting times” of a shrinking middle class, saying “the traditional strength of America has always been the great middle, making things and keeping them running.”
Hailing the performance of his company and pointing to a need for more skilled workers, Pinchuk said the “timeless principle” it was founded upon, “respect for the dignity of work,” is in “eclipse” and the type of skilled labor his workers perform is now viewed as a “consolation prize” in an era of technology.
Approaching the 100-day mark of his presidency with few major accomplishments to point to, Trump maintained that “no administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days, that includes on military, on the border, on trade, on regulation, on law enforcement — we love our law enforcement — and on government reform.”
The president promised to bring forward a tax reform plan that would “make our industries more competitive and also to provide a level playing field for our workers.”
“We don’t have a level playing field, believe me. You’re going to have one very soon. And our tax reform and tax plan is coming along very well. It’s going to be out very soon,” he said.
Trump only briefly touched on his use of the country’s military might in attacks on Syria and in Afghanistan, indicating it was a show of strength.
“No matter the circumstances, everyone will know, we act from this core conviction — that America’s strength must be unmatched and its first priority, unquestioned, the safety and security of our citizens. This is the surest path to a more peaceful and prosperous world for us all,” he said.
Joining Trump for his speech was Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a onetime Republican rival for the presidency, along with Reince Priebus, the Kenosha native who is Trump’s chief of staff after having served as Republican National Committee chairman.
Trump’s visit took place in the congressional district of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, who did not attend because of a previously scheduled European trip to NATO countries. At one point, Trump referred to Ryan as “Ron” in saying the speaker was urging NATO countries to increase their contributions to the alliance. The “Ron” reference came after Trump had introduced Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson.
Trump frequently referenced his November win of Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes. He defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by about 27,000 votes to become the first Republican to win the state since Ronald Reagan in 1984. Trump won Kenosha County, the site of Tuesday’s visit, by fewer than 300 votes.
Unemployment in the county is at 5.1 percent, up from 4.2 percent in December, when Trump and his then-running mate Mike Pence made a postelection visit to Wisconsin as part of a victory tour. Trump had been scheduled to visit Harley-Davidson in Milwaukee in early February but canceled.
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