Trump's Remarks at Whirlpool Corporation Manufacturing Plant; August 6, 2020
Sure, Made in the USA. But where are the parts from?
Remarks by President Trump at Whirlpool Corporation Manufacturing Plant
ECONOMY & JOBS
Issued on: August 6, 2020
Whirlpool Corporation Manufacturing Plant
Clyde, Ohio
3:31 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. Please. Thank you very much. Its a great honor to be here. And thank you, Dan. Im thrilled to be in the great state of Ohio. You were very good to me, but Ive been very good to you. (Applause.) Ive been very good to you. Weve been good to each other. With the incredible men and women of Whirlpool, the largest washing machine factory anywhere in the world.
Every day, 20,000 gleaming new machines coming rolling off that beautiful assembly line I just got to see it and every single one is proudly inscribed with that glorious phrase, Made in the USA. Remember? (Applause.) Made in the USA.
{snip}
For eight years, Whirlpool begged the Obama-Biden administration, who did nothing, to protect American workers from the flagrant dumping of foreign washers, dryers into America. But your cries for help fell on deaf ears. You didnt see any action. They didnt act. They didnt care, and they never will.
{snip}
The Obama-Biden administration was laughed at. They were a joke. And they were perfectly happy to let China win, your jobs disappear, and your factory to close. And you know what it was like. I came through today, and everybody was out there. Tremendous crowds, waving and cheering. I said, I must have done it right, because you had people that were really really something. (Applause.) Because four or five years ago, this place was a disaster.
In 2017, Whirlpool won relief from the ITC once again. Once more, your foreign competitors moved their factories to prevent a level playing field and to avoid liability, shifting production to Th-ailand and to Vietnam Thailand and Vietnam, two places that I like their leaders very much. Theyre very nice to us. Do they take advantage of the United States? Not so much anymore.
{snip}
Many politicians before me promised change on the campaign trail, only to back down in the face of corporate and international pressure. Like Jerusalem. They all promised Jerusalem didnt they? for years and years. I did it; they didnt do it. They didnt do it. I did it. (Applause.) Moved the embassy to Jerusalem, making Jerusalem the capital of Israel. They all talked about it. They talked and talked and talked, and then they got into office, and they didnt do it.
{snip}
Were now exporting ventilators to friends and allies, and theyre really thankful. Theyre calling, Can I have ventilators for our country, sir? How many do you need? Could you send 1,000? I said, Thats a lot. The answer is yes. What were doing is incredible. Were helping other were doing more good well will with ventilators because other things, you can make. Gowns and swabs and things, you can make. Were making them, too. But ventilators are tough. Ventilators are just one part of our historic manufacturing ramp-up.
{snip}
So I have a lot of enemies out there. This may be the last time youll see me for a while. A lot of very, very rich enemies, but they are not happy with what Im doing. But I figure we have one chance to do it, and no other President is going to do what I do. No other President would do a favored nations, a rebate, a buy from other nations at much less cost. Nobody. And there are a lot of unhappy people, and theyre very rich people, and theyre very unhappy.
Heres my fourth promise to American workers: Beyond our medical supply chains, over the next four years, we will onshore millions of new manufacturing jobs across many other critical sectors that are vital to our national security and prosperity from electronics to machine tools, to shipping, aerospace, autos, and, of course, to iron and to steel. And well never forget your washers and dryers. Okay?
During eight years of the last administration (applause) and, by the way, I have to just tell you this little story. A couple of little stories if you dont mind. Do you mind?
AUDIENCE: No!
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, because thats better than the other stuff, right?
No, I was with somebody and they said, You know, for a dishwasher, we dont have enough water, sir. I think the a lot of people in the audience would understand what Im saying. They dont have enough water because they put restrictors on, so you dont have any water. And I said, What is that? What is that?
In most states I mean, outside of desert areas we have so much water we dont know what to do with it, right? A lot of states. Your state does pretty well with the water, right? So they have plenty of water.
So I passed a regulation. I signed a regulation that give the dishwashers much more water. And I was asking today and that, by the way, includes your washers. You dont need too much water in your dryers, but it includes your washers.
And I was just saying to your brilliant people that are doing such a good job running your company, I said, How much impact has that had? They said, Unbelievable. Its been unbelievable.
Because I had people saying theyd wash their dishes and they would press the button five times. So in the end, theyre probably wasting more water than if they did it once.
So do you notice the people that make the machines, you know what Im talking about. We now have the water that you need instead of stupid, where you have much less water than you need, and you just keep going over and over again. I had people say theyd press the button five times. They didnt have enough water.
And the same thing with sinks, toilets, and showers. You go into a new home, you turn on the faucet; no water comes out. You turn on the shower if youre like me, you cant wash your beautiful hair properly. (Laughter and applause). You waste 20 minutes longer. Please come out. The water it drips, right? You know what Im talking they put restrictors on. I got rid of that. I signed it out. Thats common sense.
So now, when you actually go into a new home and pay a lot of money, you turn on the faucet, and water actually comes out. Isnt that nice? That was a regulation that was put in by a lot of people that dont understand life. Because you end up using the same amount of water; you just let it run three times longer. Its crazy.
And one other thing I did: Remember the old lightbulb? The old lightbulb was so great, and they put it out of business. It was much cheaper, and it had much better light. And youre all good-looking people, but you look better under the old lightbulb than that horrible, new lightbulb. Right? It cost you a fraction of the cost. Didnt last as long, but thats okay. But it cost you a fraction. I reinstituted and opened it up so they can sell both. They can sell the new one if you want it, and they can sell the old one. The old one is doing unbe- amazing business. Amazing business.
And, you know, the new one is considered hazardous waste. When you lose it, youre supposed to take it down to a a dump, a specified dump. How many people are going to do that with a lightbulb? Hey, you know, we lost this lightbulb. Lets travel 28 miles outside of the city to get rid of it. (Laughter.) Its hazardous waste.
So I put the old bulb back in. And you can use the new one; you can use anything. I guess its competition. But I particularly like it because I dont look so orange, so its very nice. (Applause.) Very nice. I dont want to look I dont like that look. Never liked it. But its a tremendous thing, and its having tremendous success.
So theyll, you know, scoff and say, Oh, who cares about that. Very big stuff. You know, these are big things. A lot of people have come up, Thank you, sir. They had sinks that didnt give water. They had showers that didnt give water. The whole thing. And and its been a great thing. Its been very popular. And we might as well tell you about it, because people dont talk about it. But these are things that no other President would be doing. No other President, frankly, would be even thinking about it.
{snip}
And Ill be signing something very important. Watch over the next week. I think youll be very proud of your President. Im going to be signing something thats very important over the next, probably, week. And itll have a tremendous impact on fairness and trade.
{snip}
As part of this commitment, on Monday, I signed an executive order to prevent government agencies, like the Tennessee Valley Authority, from replacing American workers with cheap foreign labor. Theres a very big utility run by a man that gets $8 million a year. Would anybody in this room like that job? Eight million. Eight million a year, right? Highest-paid hes really he doesnt work for me; I wouldnt pay $8 million. If you paid him the President gets $400- $450,000. I give up my salary. Nobody ever says that. I might as well, every once in a while, say it. I believe Im the only President to do that. And Im saying, Thats not too smart.
But the Tennessee Valley Authority pays $8 million a year to the head. And after the Authority laid off 20 percent of its American technology workforce and forced them to train their foreign replacements this week, I told the chairman of the board, Youre fired. (Applause.) And the firings will continue unless the layoffs are reversed and the American workers are rehired.
And, by the way, as I was leaving for the great state of Ohio did you ever watch Biden, where hes always saying the wrong state? Its great to be in Florida. Florida. No, its Ohio. Ive never seen a guy I havent done that one yet; thats a disaster. I always say Jim Jordan if you do that, its over, right? You can be Winston Churchill. The speeches is over; you just walk off the stage.
But he does it all the time. Nobody calls him for it. I love the state of Iowa. Sir, sir, its Idaho. Its Idaho. And the worst is when hes in, like, Indiana, and he says, Its great to be with the people of Florida, and you have palm trees all over the place. But he does it all the time. Theres something going on.
{snip}
To every worker here at Whirlpool, thank you once again for welcoming us. Its an honor to be here. And thank you for your commitment to American manufacturing. Youre a great company with great, great people.
Together, we will bring back our jobs, we will bring back our factories, and we will bring back our American Dream. God bless you, and God bless America.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.)
END 4:25 P.M. EDT
soothsayer
(38,601 posts)No wonder he screwed it up. But hes still stupid.
shifting production to Th-ailand and to Vietnam Thailand and Vietnam...
ZZenith
(4,107 posts)I doubt it was written that way in his prepared speech, if thats what youre alluding to.
soothsayer
(38,601 posts)Hes an idiot
ZZenith
(4,107 posts)Delarage
(2,182 posts)And lies.
And what the hell? 160,000 dead Americans, bounties on our troops, rampant corruption and self-dealling.....but.....don't you think I look better under the old lightbulbs?
jmowreader
(50,419 posts)Probably not, but I just bought a new washer & dryer and I had to buy a "steam kit" to install the dryer. The steam kit comes with a T-fitting and a hose to feed water into the dryer's on-board boiler.
And I didn't buy Whirlpool, even though Whirlpool makes a solid product. (The last time I bought a laundry pair, it was a Whirlpool.) I got a North Carolina-made Electrolux. The closest Whirlpool to my washer would have cost $1499. Mine cost $1199 and it has far more features.