Just as his ambitious campaign promises to immediately provide healthcare for everyone at a “fraction of the cost” are earning increased scrutiny amidst the release of the American Health Care Act, President Trump made another such declaration in suburban Detroit on Wednesday afternoon.
“We will be the car capital of the world!” Trump pledged to a cheering crowd, adding, “And it won’t be long! Believe me.”
Towards the end of the speech, Trump made another dramatic pledge, boldly assuring the audience, “This city will once again shine with industrial might.”
Just over a year ago, Bloomberg summarized Detroit’s increasingly weak ties to the auto industry, declaring the link was “shattered” in a piece titled, “Detroit Isn’t Motor City:”
Detroit’s ties to the fortunes of the auto industry have been fraying for six decades, as manufacturing jobs in the city fell from about 348,000 in 1950 to 27,000 in 2012, with fewer than 10,000 working in the auto business. Even while the U.S. automakers ruled the roads in the ’50s and ’60s they moved much of their manufacturing out of Detroit to new factories elsewhere in the U.S. and around the world. That evacuation accelerated Detroit’s decline.
Now, Trump is pledging to reverse that trend, “and it won’t be long” either.
While it’s relieving to hear Trump devote attention to the suffering in Detroit, and his speech was generally good, his habit of making massive promises to fix America’s problems in little to no time will haunt Republicans after he leaves office.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
