Trump promotes USMCA trade deal in Wisconsin
After announcing the resignation of his Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, President Trump spoke to a friendly crowd at Derco Aerospace, a Lockheed Martin owned company, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At Derco, the president pushed for support of passing his U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA). The company provides logistics and technical support for fixed-wing aircraft.
Mr. Trump hit familiar points in his speech, repeating his oft-used assertion that "NAFTA was a disaster." He said that the USMCA, by contrast, will be "very special."
"The USMCA will be the most modern, cutting-edge trade agreement in history," Mr. Trump said. He added that Canada will have incentive to buy products from Derco thanks to the USMCA.
"Every day that goes by it gets more and more political because we're getting closer to the election," the president said about potential difficulties in getting the USMCA passed in Congress.
Democratic leaders have criticized the handling of the trade deal by the White House and the GOP, complaining that the work on the deal is being rushed.
"The Trump Administration's decision to send Congress a draft statement of administrative action before we have finished working with U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer to ensure the USMCA benefits American workers and farmers is not a positive step," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi previously wrote in a letter bashing the deal. "It indicates a lack of knowledge on the part of the Administration on the policy and process to pass a trade agreement."
Mr. Trump meanwhile tweeted ahead of his departure that he was "very happy" with the deal he made with Mexico.
"Biggest part of deal with Mexico has not yet been revealed," he teased.
The president is also participating in two separate fundraisers that GOP officials estimate to take in a total of $7 million dollars for the president's re-election campaign. Mr. Trump won the state of Wisconsin by just 22,748 votes in 2016. This will be his 6th stop to this battleground state since taking office according to the Associated Press.