President Trump put Democrats on the spot Thursday for blocking a massive infrastructure program, saying they would rather deny him a win than rebuild America’s crumbling highways, bridges and power grid.
Standing in front of union construction workers in Richfield, Ohio, the president said the time is long overdue to invest in America’s infrastructure and the workers who build and maintain it.
“In recent years, Americans have watched as Washington spent trillions of dollars building up foreign countries while allowing our own country’s infrastructure to fall into a state of total disrepair,” Mr. Trump said. “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.”
It was a stinging rebuke for both parties, whom he chided for spending $7 trillion to fight wars across the Middle East while America’s schools, roads and airports fell into disrepair.
The sharpest criticism, however, was aimed at Democrats.
“I don’t think you can get Democrat support very much,” the president said. “We’re probably going to have to wait until after the [midterm] election, because the Democrats say, ’Don’t give him any more wins!’ “
The $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan is a top priority for Mr. Trump, but it’s stuck in Congress. The legislation could move in pieces, and Mr. Trump wants to push through as much as possible before midterm elections in November.
His speech in Ohio was the first in a series of road trips to promote the plan. He delivered the remarks at a training center for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 18, whose members are heavy equipment operators, mechanics and surveyors in the construction industry.
Mr. Trump enjoyed strong support from blue-collar workers in the 2016 presidential race but not from union leadership. He said some of the unions could be warming to him.
“I’ve proven you’ve got a friend in the White House. That’s why we’re building all of these projects,” said the president.
Several unions, including the AFL-CIO, did not respond to The Washington Times’ request for comment.
Gary Burless, a Brookings Institute economist who studies labor market policy, said unions will remain skeptical as long as conservative lawmakers recoil from government spending on capital projects.
“If union leaders think President Trump’s infrastructure plans won’t result in much additional actual spending, their enthusiasm for the president’s plan would, I suspect, be pretty tepid,” Mr. Burless said.
The Trump plan hinges on spending $200 billion to leverage a total investment of $1.5 trillion from state and local government over 10 years. But that hit solid opposition from Capitol Hill Democrats who want $1 trillion in direct federal spending, paid for by repealing income tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
Mr. Trump got an enthusiastic reposes from GOP lawmakers.
“Republicans in Congress are eager to answer President Trump’s call to address America’s aging infrastructure and the outdated rules and regulations that drive up costs,” said Sen. John Barrasso, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “Democrats must now keep their commitment to achieve these goals. It’s time to work together in a bipartisan way for the American people.”
Applying more pressure, Mr. Trump reminded the Ohio crowd that Democrats also opposed the tax cuts he signed into law in December. The president said he had cut “job-killing taxes.”
“And we didn’t have one Democrat who voted for that. They want to raise your taxes,” said Mr. Trump.
He is pitching the plan not only as a badly needed upgrade to the transportation and power system that is the backbone of the country, but also as a jobs program and a massive economic boost.
Mr. Trump said some progress already had been made, especially in streamlining the federal approval process to get projects underway faster, which he can do through executive action. He also took credit for added money for infrastructure in the omnibus spending bill he signed last week, which included funds for highways, airports, railroads and waterworks projects.
“Congress now has the opportunity to build on this momentum and act on a commonsense plan that will make our economy stronger, our roads faster and our families safer. It is a plan for building a stronger America,” said Mr. Trump.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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