Why Donald Trump Is Destined To Win Pennsylvania – and the Election |

From the Campaign Trail

This article appears in Real Clear Politics at https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2024/10/30/why_donald_trump_is_destined_win_pennsylvania_and_election__151859.html.

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Why Donald Trump Is Destined To Win Pennsylvania – and the Election | RealClearPolitics

Elections have consequences, and the coming of Barack Obama and Joe Biden in 2008 hit the manufacturing and defense industrial base of the battleground state of Pennsylvania particularly hard.  According to the Keystone State’s own Department of Community and Economic Development, the crippling Obama-Biden defense cuts cost the state’s economy $2.4 billion, prompting business closures and workforce layoffs.

Because President Trump quickly and firmly responded to this crisis, he is likely to win the Keystone State and therefore the election.  Understanding exactly how Trump went about resuscitating Pennsylvania’s big slice of America’s defense industrial base goes a long way to understanding why a Trump victory next week is now inevitable – provided Trump supporters get to the polls.

This canary in a coal mine story starts in 2017 when President Trump signed the historic Executive Order 13806.  This was the first-ever effort by the entire U.S. Government to identify gaps in America’s defense industrial base and develop a plan to fix them.

As the Director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing (OTMP), I was blessed to be a big part of the effort to close the various gaps identified; and one of my most first and most important assignments was revitalization of the Philadelphia shipyard.  After eight years of Obama-Biden neglect, the Philly yard -- once the pride of America’s shipbuilding industry -- was down to only 80 employees and on the precipice of closure.

At President Trump’s direction, my OTMP office quickly organized a special White House project to source new repair work for the yard.  We subsequently invested over $630 million for new U.S. Merchant Marine Academy training ships.  With the help of local labor leaders like Jimmy Hart, these Trumpian actions put the shipyard on a path to full capacity and would grow the number of workers to well over 1,000 – and neither the workers at the yard or their families have forgotten.

The BAE Systems combat vehicle plant in York was another key Pennsylvanian part of America’s defense industrial base likewise devastated by the Obama-Biden defense cuts.  President Trump would direct $5 billion of investment into the plant, including substantial funds for the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) program and Bradley Fighting Vehicle upgrades as older military vehicles were replaced with advanced, multi-role systems better suited to modern battlefield needs. 

President Trump also signed into law the Patriot inventory protection provision. As part of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, this provision ensured the Letterkenny Army Depot near Chambersburg in Franklin County would play a vital role in maintaining and repairing America’s Patriot anti-missile system. 

Nor did President Trump hesitate to invoke the Defense Production Act when necessary to shore up America’s critical defense needs.  I remember well a trip I made to North American Forge Masters in New Castle where I watched with awe the crafting of a massive ship propeller.  This trip came after President Trump used Title III of Defense Production Act to grant $31 million dollars for iron and steel forging for the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program.

And let’s not forget President Trump’s staunch support for Pennsylvania’s steel industry through protective tariffs.  These Trump tariffs spurred hundreds of millions of dollars of new investment across Pennsylvania in companies like Allegheny Technologies, Cleveland-Cliffs, and U.S. Steel – and communities like Brackenridge, Latrobe, and Vandergrift benefitted.

Nor was it just tariffs.  Trump also used the Defense Production Act to expand alloy steel plate production with a $56 million award to ArcelorMittal, sustaining over 600 jobs in Coatesville. 

These investments and countless others not only got hardworking Pennsylvanians back on the job, but also paid dividends for U.S. national security abroad. Many of the weapon systems, equipment, components, and munitions Trump invested in are demonstrating vital importance for the U.S. and its allies today as threats from America’s adversaries grow from the Middle East and Ukraine to the Taiwan Strait.

President Trump rightly understood that America’s industrial capacity is vital to our economic and national security. He prioritized America’s workers by investing in jobs and contracts that gave the defense industrial base a much-needed boost. By coupling economic and defense policy, President Trump enabled Pennsylvania to retain critical industrial capacity, create new, well-paying jobs, and protect America’s national and economic security.

The working-class voters in all of these various manufacturing industries dozens of manufacturing communities across the Keystone State well remember what Trump did.  These now “Trump Democrats” certainly won’t forget when they go to the polls.

Peter Navarro served as Donald Trump’s manufacturing czar and chief China hawk.  He is the author of The New MAGA Deal: The Unofficial Deplorables Guide to Donald Trump’s 2024 Platform.  Follow him at www.peternavarro.substack.com