WASHINGTON (WN) President Donald Trump is
meeting at the White House with two dozen manufacturing CEOs.
Trump, the teacher-in-chief? At the last
meeting Trump had with manufacturing CEOs, everyone got a homework assignment:
You've got 30 days to come up with a plan to create U.S jobs. In today's
meeting with them, he'll check their work.
"We're going to find out how we bring
more jobs back," Trump told the group before the meeting was shut off to
the press. He cited that the U.S. closed 70,000 factories since China joined
the World Trade Organization. The president said he wanted to create a
"level" playing field for companies on the world stage, with a
stronger dollar and trade surpluses with other countries.
The CEOs went around the room introducing
themselves, offering praise, and inviting Trump to come ride in the industrial
vehicles they manufacture or visit operations. Trump alternately praised,
bullied, and cajoled during the introduction. He asked the CEO of United
Technologies, Carrier's parent company if they were going to bring any more
jobs back and said that its air conditioning sales were up from
"patriotic" buyers.
He also prodded the CEO of GE, Jeffrey
Immelt, to relate an anecdote where while golfing Trump said "I'm the best
golfer of all the rich people," and the proceeded to hit a hole-in-one on
a par 3.
Listening in on of of the smaller sessions
beforehand, CNBC reported that one of the CEOs said that a border adjustment
tax would create 2 million high-paying jobs only to be quickly interrupted
by another CEO who pointed out it would also expose 42 million jobs to destruction.
Under the rules of engagement reporters were not allowed to quote participants
by name.
Two "very" senior administration
officials also discussed how vocational schools were larger parts of high
school education when they were growing up and they wanted to see that brought
back, CNBC reported. Also due today are the outlines of issues and focuses
where Trump could make changes to help companies grow in the United States and
hire in the United States, a meeting participant told NBC News.
On today's lesson plan: splitting into
working groups. Each group will get tasked with a different focus, such as
taxes, regulation, workforce of the future, environmental issues, and
infrastructure and Army Corps of Engineers, the participant said.
The CEOs showing up to class today include
Michael Dell of Dell Technologies; Andrew Liveris of Dow Chemical; Alex Gorsky
of Johnson & Johnson; Mark Fields of Ford; Marillyn Hewson of Lockheed
Martin; and Mario Longhi of U.S. Steel, according to the White House.
Also in attendance from the Administration
side will be Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and
Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon, among others. Some CEOs from the
original group "called in sick" for scheduling reasons, the
participant said. Others may have had to "drop the class" due to
concerns about customer and employee backlash.
At the end of the last meeting in January,
Ford CEO Mark Fields told reporters, "I know I come out with a lot of
confidence that the president is very, very serious on making sure that the
United States economy is going to be strong, and have policies tax, regulatory
or trade to drive that."
A complete overhaul of the system was
promised earlier in the day by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, including
simplified rules for businesses. He said that would help boost the country to 3
percent growth in GDP. The stock market responded to the announcement with
mixed results.
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