President Donald Trump touted his $1.5 trillion investment plan to rebuild America’s “crumbling infrastructure” during a speech Thursday in Ohio, saying that his administration is “launching the next phase of America’s economic comeback.”
Speaking to a crowd in Richfield, Ohio, the chief executive said, “Americans have watched as Washington spent trillions and trillions of dollars building up foreign countries while allowing our own country’s infrastructure to fall into a state of total disrepair.
“Things are changing, folks. But now is the time to rebuild our country, to take care of our people, and to fight for our great American workers for a change. And now with our friends in Ohio we’re launching the next phase of America’s economic comeback — we are going to rebuild America’s crumbling infrastructure.”
Trump promised “we will bring new life into your very rundown highways, railways and waterways. We’ll transform your roads and bridges from a source of endless frustration into a source of absolutely incredible promise and pride. And we’re going to do it all under budget and ahead of schedule.”
He also recounted how, he claimed, he has been “fighting every day to protect and defend and grow American jobs” by eliminating “a record number of job-killing regulations, adding 3 million jobs to the economy,” making “history by massively reducing job-killing taxes” and standing up for American workers “by finally cracking down on unfair trade that steals our jobs and plunders our wealth,” the president said, “We’re keeping our promises, and the results are in.”
Trump said he has “proven” to American workers that they have “a friend in the White House” at long last.
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Trump acknowledged that it will be extremely difficult to pass his $1.5 trillion investment plan requiring $200 billion in federal funds unless Democrats provide needed support. The president also admitted that it may not be passed until after the 2018 midterm elections because Democrats are saying, “Don’t give him any more wins!”
“I’ve asked Republicans and Democrats in Congress to come together and deliver the biggest and boldest infrastructure plan in the last half century,” Trump said. “It can be passed in one bill, or in a series of measures. What matters is that we get the job done.”
Trump’s plan also includes a $50 billion commitment to boosting infrastructure in rural communities, “which are too often left behind.”
Related: Some on Right Worry Trump’s Infrastructure Plan Is a Boondoggle in the Making
“They’ve been forgotten. We’re going to spend lot of money on the rural communities that have not been taken care of,” Trump said. “And they haven’t been taken care of by the Democrats.”
Although his infrastructure plan faces an uphill battle in Congress, the president pledged to “tear down every obstacle, take down every barrier, and stare down every challenge because our hearts, they bleed red, white and blue and we love our great American flag.”
“America’s greatest treasure is our people,” Trump said. “You’re the ones who are truly making America great again. We’re going to work together. We’re going to work with the state of Ohio. We’re going to work with everybody. And we’re going to bring our country to a level of success and prominence and pride like it has never, ever seen before.”
PoliZette writer Kathryn Blackhurst can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter.
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