Indiana Sen. Dan Coats lauded President-elect Trump on Wednesday for negotiating a deal with Carrier air-conditioning company that will keep nearly 1,000 manufacturing jobs in the Hoosier State that were supposed to be outsourced to Mexico.
“I think the great thing about that is that it sends the message that someone who is not yet even president of the United States is able to negotiate something that was a major issue in the campaign,” Coats told reporters inside Trump Tower after a meeting with the president-elect.
He continued, “I think thousands, and maybe tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of workers woke up today and said ‘My gosh, he’s not even president yet and he’s figured out how to save a thousand jobs.'”
The Republican senator Trump’s deal with the Indiana-based air-conditioning company sends a message to American workers that their next president is “going to look out for their well-being and their families’ well-being.”
“It is hugely impactful… [and] sends the message of accomplishment that is unprecedented,” Coats said, adding that other companies are likely to “pay attention” to the deal Trump struck with Carrier and possibly be open to negotiations of their own with the president-elect.
“Obviously the private sector has issues relative to staying competitive in the world and they have to make those decisions, but I think what it will do is open the door to more thought and perhaps more creative ways of addressing questions like this,” he said.
Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence will travel to Indianapolis on Thursday. He is expected to reveal further details about the Carrier deal during his visit to the Hoosier State.
