Trump touts trade win in Illinois steel town as others lose
Steelworkers in Granite City, Illinois, threw a street party — complete with hot dogs, cold beer and a singer in red, white and blue — when U.S. Steel announced earlier this year it was bringing hundreds of laid-off employees back to work at the local mill.
On Thursday they’ll celebrate again, this time with President Donald Trump.
U.S. Steel credited Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum when the company announced in March it was firing up a furnace at Granite City Works that had been idled for more than two years. Since then, Trump has pointed to the community east of St. Louis as an example of how his “America First” approach to trade will help U.S. workers — a case he’ll make again Thursday before a crowd of employees and local residents who say this steel town has come alive again.
“Our community is excited to have the president come, and we’re especially excited to see jobs coming back to Granite City,” said James Amos, the city’s economic development director. “To have the president of the United States visit your city feels like, maybe, icing on the cake.”