Last December, President Trump had some good news for hundreds of workers at a Carrier plant in Indiana. His administration and Vice President Mike Pence (then still governor of Indiana) had worked out a deal to save hundreds of union jobs. As Trump then put it, workers were going to have a “great Christmas,” and surely many of them did. Trump also said that the 1,100 jobs he worked to save would be a “minimum.”
Turns out, those 1,100 jobs are likely the upper ceiling. Carrier is embarking on several rounds of layoffs that will see jobs shipped to Mexico. These layoffs were known ahead of time, when Trump announced his initial deal back in December. Carrier will still maintain 1,069 jobs at its Indiana plant, per its agreement to receive some $7 million dollars in state aid.
Much of the media’s current barrage of accusations that “Trump didn’t keep his promise” is simply false. However, Americans still have plenty of reasons to be concerned. The layoffs prove just how difficult it is for government officials to keep jobs in the United States. Millions of dollars have been spent to save only a few hundred jobs, and hundreds more jobs are going to be lost regardless.
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Brian Brinker is an OpsLens Contributor and political consultant.
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