Days after Trump takes credit for single-handedly saving the steel industry, 200 Michigan steelworkers lose their jobs

A week ago today, standing in front of 5,000 Royal Dutch Shell contract employees in Monaca, Pennsylvania — who, by the way, were told that, if they didn’t attend, they wouldn’t be paid — Donald Trump announced that the American steel industry “was dead” until he levied tariffs against imported steel last year.

According to the White House website, his exact words were, “…And, by the way, steel — steel was dead. Your business was dead. OK? I don’t want to be overly crude. Your business was dead. And I put a little thing called ‘a 25 percent tariff’ on all of the dumped steel all over the country. And now your business is thriving.”

Well, today — just seven days after Donald Trump delivered those remarks — it was announced that US Steel would be laying off 200 workers right here in Michigan.

If the name US Steel rings a bell, it might be because Donald Trump has referenced the company before, as an example of his brilliant manipulation of world markets to benefit American workers.

In reality, it would appear as though Donald Trump’s poorly thought through tariffs, in many cases, have done more harm than good, in large part because they’ve increased uncertainty in the market. In the case of the steel industry, Trump stepped in and announced tariffs against Chinese steel, causing American firms to start stockpiling the commodity, which, in turn, led to decreased demand the following quarter. While I suppose it’s possible that these recent job losses could be temporary, and the American steel industry could come roaring back to life, things aren’t looking good right now, and Donald Trump, who has campaigned on the power of his tariffs to reinvigorate industry, needs to step up and take ownership… You can’t keep issuing statements like the following when things are good, and then say, when the layoffs start being announced, that you didn’t play a role.

One last thing. While we’re talking about Trump and the economy, check out “The Trump vs. Obama economy — in 15 charts” in today’s Washington Post, if you haven’t already. There’s lots of good stuff in it.

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10 Comments

  1. John Brown
    Posted August 21, 2019 at 6:47 am | Permalink

    And then that ruskie stooge Agent Orange gushes about Russia rejoining the G7 without even once criticising pootin for election interference. He’s treasonous and anyone who supports him is an enemy of The USA. But hey, some folks seem to get off on being hated. The borderline personality enablers of the narcissist in chief prefer negative attention to none at all, amirite?

  2. Q baby
    Posted August 21, 2019 at 9:12 am | Permalink

    Why is the deep state sabotaging Donald Trump like this? They must be terrified that he’s going to drain the swamp and bring them all to justice.

  3. Q baby
    Posted August 21, 2019 at 9:14 am | Permalink

    If you give all the letters of STEEL a numeric value, they add up to 44, which is Obama’s presidential number. THIS IS NOT A COINCIDENCE! Obama is the one stopping the Steel industry from being successful! He controls the government and the economy from a mosque in Kenya!

  4. Q baby
    Posted August 21, 2019 at 9:15 am | Permalink

    Except for the job growth numbers. He’s not responsible for that. That’s all Trump! MAGA!!!

  5. Meta
    Posted August 21, 2019 at 9:35 am | Permalink

    NBC News: “Coal workers fight for benefits as industry struggles under Trump”

    Dozens of retired miners, some in wheelchairs and using oxygen tanks to manage black lung disease, recently visited the Capitol seeking federal help for their failing pension plans.

    A day later, President Donald Trump traveled to the miners’ home state, West Virginia, to raise an estimated $2.5 million for his re-election campaign at an event hosted by Robert Murray, who owns America’s largest underground coal company.

    As an insurgent candidate in 2016, Trump promised miners he would restore the industry — and their jobs — after years of steady decline.

    But as the president gears up his 2020 re-election campaign, coal magnates like Murray, whose company has a history of labor violations, have been among the biggest beneficiaries of his agenda.

    Read more:
    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/coal-workers-fight-benefits-industry-struggles-under-trump-n1044576

  6. Jean Henry
    Posted August 21, 2019 at 10:54 am | Permalink

    In other news, our progress towards faux nativist (we’re not actually a western European country!) totalitarianism continues:
    https://www.npr.org/2019/08/21/753062975/new-trump-policy-would-permit-indefinite-detention-of-migrant-families-children

  7. Jean Henry
    Posted August 21, 2019 at 10:55 am | Permalink

    Also retweets post clone him the kind oh Israel.

    Guess that’s sloppy seconds compared to Greenland.

  8. Jean Henry
    Posted August 21, 2019 at 10:57 am | Permalink

    Whoa! Guess this new keyboard isn’t an improvement…
    Once more :
    ’Also Trump retweets a post calling him the King of Israel. ’

  9. Dogmatic dolt
    Posted August 23, 2019 at 7:34 pm | Permalink

    HW it was Republicans that imposed outside dictators to strip mine
    Detroit of its assets and poison flint you are too stupid to even be funny anymore.

  10. Hyborian Warlord
    Posted August 23, 2019 at 8:57 pm | Permalink

    Barking at me for some reason? Are you alright?

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