Did anyone ever ask if Americans wanted these manufacturing jobs? Are there thousands of high school kids just waiting for a factory to open up so they can work for minimum wage and no benefits (because there won’t be any unions) after graduation?
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That’s another angle to this… do we even have the workers to do these jobs, or rather is the best thing for American workers to be doing manufacturing vacuum cleaners, t shirts, and plastic toys?
Given the tariffs and trade war happening America is likely not going to turn into the world manufacturer like china and the Asian countries…. So we are going to mostly be selling internally, to 5% of the worlds population
I completely understand onshoring things like pharma products and chips (he also wants to axe the CHIPS act), but just a general manufacturing push i don’t see as being the way to go
We will all find out together as 2jar said
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That’s true. Unless we cut welfare way back(I found a trillion dollars of savings, DOGE), there very well could be few Americans to do those jobs.
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Is this really the only thing that comes to mind when you think of manufacturing?
When we have a robust manufacturing base, starting with raw materials and ending with finished products, unions get bigger and stronger.
I don’t see Trump or Musk being pro union. I mean, ending teacher unions is on the GOP agenda.
If things manage to go well…
Unions may even get out-competed in the long run and kind of go away on their own.
Skilled trade guilds have always had a fairly strong argument, but I don’t count tasks that can be learned in hours, days, or weeks in that category.
Call those a union if you want, but I still haven’t seen the benefits of any union shop I’ve worked at as a management/salary employee. It’s only good for people who don’t want to work, from what I observed. With good help being hard to find, the good help can follow the successful organizations.
Bath Iron Works and their union is one of the reasons US Navy Destroyers cost as much as they do and take as long as they take. I think I’ve thrown at least three or four of those guys out of the bar. One had a ridiculously modified $70,000 3/4 ton pickup, did the whole “I JUST SEE RED” on me outside, was completely inept, and lived with his parents.
I was told that was pretty typical at BIW.
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Trump literally ended the federal unions ability to collectively bargain the other day , has admitted to circumventing OT pay, and has praised other CEO’s who fire workers on strike lines. He has shown over and over he absolutely hates the labor side of things.
Musk has similar public statements and actions regarding unions. It’s no surprise given the side of the equation he is on. Paying labor is part of the “waste” they find so horrible
Ok. Well, if we look at his endorsements for presidency, we will see many unions that are definitely for him.
This picture taken by me at PPG arena shows Trump surrounded by steel workers from the Irving Works and Edgar Thompson works. They’re wearing the hard hats & stuff. There were tons of people there from all of the trades.
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It’s almost as if the workers are smarter than the experts.
I would bet any union shop in Maine is at least 60-70 percent Trump supporters.
Teachers union and probably a few other public sector ones are the opposite.
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Yeah, he got quite a reception at the gigantic Shell cracker plant that was built one county over.
Basically anybody that likes making money is pro Trump.
There are a few short bussers left here and there that are slow (obama era) on the uptake, but you’ll have that anywhere.
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He probably had flashburn. Shipyard welders are a breed apart. 
Did he actually or was it another staged rally with paid non-union-member sign holders like he did when he was trying to get the UAW endorsement?
Well, once again, this is something that a shit ton of tradesmen I know personally were in attendance for.
So no, it was not what ever that thing you claim is.
I have fond memories of that one. His friends were holding him like he was an uncaged beast. I told them “Let him go”, clinch, wall pin, choked him with his own hoodie, had a chat.
He started raging again once he was 50 feet away from me, then the cops arrested him.
His truck was really big.
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I think established union with a very hard to replace labor force is different than opening new factories for jobs that can be done by 12 year old kids in Pakistan.
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Definitely a guy new to paychecks maneuver.
When the marcellus shale started really taking off every kid that got hired went straight to the dealership and bought the biggest shiniest truck on the lot.
A lot of companies even paid for them. Just a big shiny diesel leash.
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Never underestimate a 12 year old from Pakistan. Those little rock knockers have laid waste to empires.
We would see a massive uptick in robotic manufacturing and derivative industries. Precision machining and manufacturing engineering & whatnot.
It seems you guys are thinking only about chips and cellphones.
The grumbling I’ve heard involves Nippon & US Steel and other large manufacturing that covers everything from mineral extraction and energy production to finished durable goods and exports.
Maybe we’re just wishfully thinking in different directions.
I get all of that but it seems they’re putting the cart before the horse.
Stainless Steel and other specialty metals are especially problematic and is already RIDICULOUSLY expensive for the US Defense industry. Most of it can be made here at a competitive cost, but not without pressure. Basic things like nuts and bolts are often 8x more expensive to buy NATO-sourced material than Chinese steel. We can make that stuff here and be a lot better off in just about every way you can imagine.
You don’t want that problem going into a massive trade war, cold war, and certainly not a hot war.
It seems like woke TDS folks in my circle just seem ready to jump on any headline that casts Trump in a negative light. That’s not surprising anymore, as it’s been going on for 10 years. They never seem to go back and look at all of the narratives that have proven to be completely bogus. One in my family is already certain that economic collapse is impending, that fascism is impending, and that Joe Rogan regrets his support for Donald Trump.
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