slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Rick Newman
Columnist
Yahoo FinanceFebruary 16, 2017

President Trump left official Washington flabbergasted with his latest press conference, a rambling sparring match with reporters that was the political equivalent of a professional wrestling smackdown.

Trump mostly fulminated on leaks that have undermined his Cabinet nominees and other aides. But Trump made a passing reference to one important economic issue—jobs—while taking credit for jawboning a handful of companies to invest more in the United States.

Trump praised five companies by name—Ford (F), General Motors (GM), Fiat Chrysler (FCAU), Intel (INTC) and Walmart (WMT)—for committing to hire more Americans. “If I didn’t get elected, believe, me, they would have left and these things I’m announcing never would have come here.”

There’s some debate about that. The automakers, to some extent, repackaged prior news to make it seem like they were making new investments in US plants that probably would have happened anyway. Intel and Walmart may or may not have ramped up US hiring without Trump.

But let’s give Trump credit for this: He has made jobs the focal point of his economic plan and expressed an urgent need to create more of them. Just about all politicians do this, and Trump may turn out to be more talk than action. Still, it is certainly something new to see a president calling out companies by name and asking their CEOs what they plan to do to create more jobs.

The list of accomplishments Trump reeled off during his press conference was overstated, but he highlighted one common sense thing that will play well in the heartland. When deciding to approve the construction of two oil pipelines President Obama had blocked, Trump decided to stipulate that they needed to be built with steel made in America. “They build a pipeline in this country,” Trump said, “and we use the powers of government to make that pipeline happen, we want them to use American steel.” Hard to argue with that.

There are many risks to Trump’s economic plan and his focus on jobs. The first is that Trump’s penchant for controversy creates so much turmoil that it undermines his support in Congress—even among his fellow Republicans—and wrecks his ability to get anything done. Given that some of Trump’s controversies are self-inflicted—criticizing judges, bashing Nordstrom (JWN) for phasing out his daughter’s line of products—Trump could torpedo his own plan. No leaks required.

Another big risk is that Trump has identified the wrong solutions, even if he accurately perceives the problem. There’s a lot of data showing a decline in certain middle-class jobs, and eroding living standards along with that. But punishing trade partners and keeping out immigrants, as Trump proposes, could do more harm than good. Better to focus on new ways to give more workers the sk**ls needed for the jobs of the future.

Still, Trump has now met with dozens of CEOs and apparently asked or told all of them to find ways to hire more US workers. CEOs undoubtedly think twice these days about closing American facilities and opening ones abroad. They might just be waiting Trump out, betting that his attention span will fade and he’ll grow tired of harping on jobs. But the rule regarding Trump is, don’t underestimate him. Or lose sight of the method amid the madness.

moldyoldy

The pipes are already bought, and he knows it.

roadster Loc: Arizona

Trump? I try to live my life with one over-riding ideal "Everything we say & do is a result of our ethics." Number 1 in the ethics is DECEIT. Let's be right up-front, a President or anyone elected in our Legislative Branch are there because people v**ed to put them there. You can go back decades and see the main issue in any P**********l campaign has been "Jobs"! I don't believe a word Trump says just like our 1st President, George Washington, asked of us.
Trump lied. I caught him once via credible research. Caught him again, and again..... Anyone, candidate or not, just anyone who lies to me I find it almost impossible to believe him/her again and will not do anything to support or encourage that person again. BUT, the U.S. public are not ethical people (yeah, get mad if you want, I don't care). Lying is NOT acceptable conduct to me, but so many say they don't care. Complain about politicians lying to you? Why not, YOU (U.S. public) encourage, reward them for lying, they get elected & re-elected. YOU created career politicians. YOU created these i***ts who constantly show they are more loyal to their political party than to the country or their constituents. They (and I've been there for years and know for a fact) get elected and have this extremely low opinion of U.S. public NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY, you as U.S. society are thought of as low-life scum.
I overheard a person in the ivory halls of D.C. once say "I don't have to worry about re-e******n, my people are sheep, they'll believe anything I tell them." that same person was a P**********l candidate (so happy he was not successful).
Let's be up-front & honest! The press & the White House, do you want journalists who will investigate anything & everything the Administration does, or do you want journalists who are so bias and act like little puppy dogs scared to offend the Administration, only write supportive things because they want access. A President who only gives access to those who write supportive things is certainly wrong, and I cannot support.
No I'm not a Trump supporter, but if you think I'm a Hillary supporter you'd be wrong! Yes, my position on ethics makes me a fun person to be around come e******n time. Anyone who believes what they hear on corporate news is quite gullible and an unethical person in my eyes. I've caught them all in so many blatant lies and bias reporting that I've gotten to the point that I prefer to read my news, keep the TV off.
Use wh**ever brain you have and think, what made Nixon sign & create the EPA? It was a huge amount of people who believed "You are either part of the problem or part of the solution"! Several politicians were NOT re-elected and that scared the rest of the politicians. Do you believe these politicians are our leaders or followers? Do you really feel comfortable putting a follower into such a position as to take us to war with you or loved ones literally dying over their decision. You can bet those casting a v**e to go to war aren't going to be there themselves.
If what I write is d******e? Well DUH! You are either an ethical person or not! The problem with the U.S. is NOT our government, it is U.S. society. Government, media are only reflections of what our society is. Yes, I've taken critical-thinking to the next level, I'm a cynic.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

I am like you in that I agree with much of what you write. But, you are like many on this forum who think theirs is the only informed opinion. Also, you wrote "#1 in the ethics is DECEIT." You really believe a statement like that makes you credible

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

Only time will tell, which is true for any President or political party platform. Trumps major problem going in, was his campaign, which had no clear focus. Instead of focusing on a few key issues, Trump felt the need to speak on all of them. This was an effective sales strategy, I mean, campaign strategy, as it gathered in many disparate groups to his banner. Now, trying to unravel the this string of "policy" rants is proving troublesome, and in many cases, impossible.

It is easy to say "I believe this", or "I believe that" when on campaign, as no one really expects to hear any details, and indeed, Trump provided none. Once in the big chair, however, the details matter and ONLY the details matter, not the rhetoric. Every reform Trump has espoused through the campaign are needed on some level, but they are all interrelated - and cannot be separated into sound bites. Tax reform is tied to economic growth, which is tied to foreign policy, which is tied to middle class income, which is......

This is not a popularity contest, although Trump seems to disagree. This is not a "who's got the best slogan" contest, again, Trump disagrees. The real contest is between Trumps aides, his Cabinet, Trump himself, the House of Representatives and the Senate, all of whom have their own agenda's to pursue. Some of their goals are similar, but their methods of achieving them are quite different. Trump's main concern is "optics", as in, wh**ever makes him look good, causing him to reject common sense in favor of sensationalism, long term success for short term crowing points.

Automakers and other manufacturers may indeed cater to Trump's ego, in the short term, promising to build lavish plants an hire more workers, but actually doing none of it, preferring to wait and see what actual policies manage to come out of these contests. It is doubtful that any long term gains will result from any of these short term pats on the back provided to Trump.

moldyoldy

You mean like that "Made in America" plane?

http://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-787-dreamliner-structure-suppliers-2013-10

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

The plane designed and built under Obama's tenure? Yeah, like Dell and others, parts manufactured overseas, shipped here and assembled, can have "made in America" stamped on it. Half the design engineers are foreigners, either immigrants or here on work visas. Is it because Americans are too stupid to design and build planes anymore, or is it because foreigners are cheaper to hire than Americans? We'll never know.

moldyoldy

I worked at Goodrich Aerospace until 2002. During that time we opened 5 plants in the south where labor was cheaper, even though we had to train the workers and repair the mistakes for years. We also had to train the Chinese to build planes in order to get access to their markets. These big companies have one goal in mind, making money for shareholders. They care nothing for workers or country, just the bottom line.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

Yep, just like Trump. Why rake Clinton over the coals in regards to her "close ties" with wall street, then hire every Goldman sacks executive for your Cabinet? Simple, because they will ensure that Trumps stocks increase - and help him be able to borrow money in the US again. If you'll recall, Trump has burned every investment bank in the US for 100's of millions of dollars, by not paying back what he owed, so they stopped lending to him. At last count, a German bank is the only bank left that will loan him money, and he's probably screwing them now too.

moldyoldy

Trump wants to find a way to lift sanctions on Russia. 500 billion for putin and exxon, a few billion for trump off the top would make him the billionaire that he pretends to be.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

Yup. Pretty good business model no?