Forgotten rust belt town embraces Donald Trump – despite his broken promises

Published

10 months ago

August 31, 2024

admin

They were queuing at dawn for a rally that wouldn’t start for hours. Such is the draw of Donald Trump in places like this.

I’m back in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a town I’ve been to a few times over the past eight years.

I was first here in 2016, on the night when Donald Trump dramatically defeated Hillary Clinton – the election which propelled him to the White House. I returned four years later when Trump lost to Joe Biden.

This is a rust belt town which feels now to be rusting away.

It’s one of those neglected places in America, a town bypassed by highways and forgotten by people who live a better life somewhere else.

The thriving steel industry on which Johnstown was built is long gone. The vast metal plant which once dominated the town centre now employs just a fraction of the workers. Young people who see opportunity elsewhere leave as soon as they can.

Main Street is now a collection of vape shops, fast food franchises, the odd shop and boarded up businesses. One independent restaurant which had just opened on my last visit is still open, but it’s empty.

This part of Pennsylvania is Trump country. And today, there is a buzz in the air because their man is passing through.

With 10 weeks to go until the most pivotal of elections, Donald Trump and his opponent, Kamala Harris, are criss-crossing the country, shuttling between the few swing states where the future of this country will be decided.

In Pennsylvania and just a few other states, the margins are so tight, it could swing either way.

And so, just as he did in 2016 and 2020, Donald Trump came to Johnstown to tell the people here, again, that he will make their lives better.

“We’re going to win back the White House.” he told the cheering crowd in a packed arena.

“We’re going to make this country greater than it’s ever been… We’re going to bring in tremendous numbers of factories.

“Together, we will deliver low taxes, low regulations, low energy costs, low interest rates, low inflation, so that everyone can afford groceries, a car and a home.”

He hit every button and here, among the faithful who attend these rallies, they believe his pledges.

But here’s the thing. Despite his promises, he never got the factories outside this arena re-opened when he was last president.

A combination of factors is fuelling Trump’s enduring appeal.

Part of it is explained by deep-set conservative Christian values which Trumpian Republicanism has latched on to so well – the yearning for ‘the good old days’.

Part of it is the soaring inflation over the past few years – the sharp post-pandemic increase in global commodity prices, compounded by Ukraine war-related supply chain and energy delivery disruption. Here, Joe Biden foots the blame. He’s been the president. No debate.

But it’s also viscerally clear that part of America feels marginalised and ignored as ‘progressive’ liberals progress with policies and lifestyles that people in places like Johnstown feel are not aligned with them or helping them.

Put simply, the lives of the people in this arena felt better back under the first Trump term, despite the unfulfilled promises, because they have felt even worse through the past four years under Joe Biden.

Donald Trump, the salesman, has harnessed this anger with pitch-perfect rhetoric. He hears their disillusionment and he compounds it as he projects forward.

“Comrade Kamala launched a radical left war on Pennsylvania energy that will destroy the economy of your state,” he told them in a speech peppered with baseless assertions.

“Can you believe that Kamala Harris wants to outlaw your car and truck and force you to buy electric vehicles, whether you like them or not, whether you can afford it or not? When we win, on day one, I will tell Pennsylvania to drill, baby, drill.”

His speech darted from topic to topic to cheers and pantomime boos.

“She does not care if your family is struggling and she did absolutely nothing to fix it. She’s the vice president, but she just does not care.

“She does not care about women’s rights because she supported destroying women’s sports and athletic scholarships. She wants men to play in women’s sports.”

He repeated “Comrade Kamala” over and over. Not only does she represent continuity from Biden, but she is, he said, a radical-left communist.

Few watch the cable TV networks in places like this, such is the level of distrust in the mainstream media, but had they watched Harris’s first interview, with CNN on Thursday, they’d have heard her rebuking that caricature with language that sounded more centrist than socialist.

It involved U-turns, yes – like on fracking, a big industry in Philadelphia, which she once said she wanted to ban.

But on the broad political spectrum that reflects America, she fell more towards the moderate middle ground than many of Mr Trump’s own policies.

Take immigration. Kamala Harris pledged to sign into law the tough bipartisan border security deal which Mr Trump torpedoed a few months ago.

His allies in Congress blocked the bill despite it being precisely what he wanted to fix the chaotic southern border. Why did he have it blocked? Because he knew its success would help the Democrats.

Beyond immigration, it was the livelihoods of everyday Americans which Kamala Harris chose to focus on in the CNN interview, not progressive base motivators like reproductive rights or gun control.

The problem is that even if the crowd in this rally were watching the Harris interview; even if they did hear her words, which were still undeniably light on policy detail, they don’t believe her.

“The people of Pennsylvania are smart…” Mr Trump said. “They are not going to fall for it. She will destroy. If you don’t have fracking, you don’t have a commonwealth.”

The crowd roared.

Both sides in this starkly divided country have been led to a place where they have no trust in the other. There are two siloed worlds here and it’s increasingly embittered, resentful and aggrieved.

US

US-UK trade deal ‘done’, says Trump as he meets Starmer at G7

Published

3 hours ago

June 17, 2025

admin

US-UK trade deal 'done', says Trump as he meets Starmer at G7

The UK-US trade deal has been signed and is “done”, US President Donald Trump has said as he met Sir Keir Starmer at the G7 summit.

The US president told reporters: “We signed it, and it’s done. It’s a fair deal for both. It’ll produce a lot of jobs, a lot of income.”

As Mr Trump and his British counterpart exited a mountain lodge in the Canadian Rockies where the summit is being held, the US president held up a physical copy of the trade agreement to show reporters.

Several leaves of paper fell from the binding, and Mr Starmer quickly bent down to pick them up, saying: “A very important document.”

Sir Keir said the document “implements” the deal to cut tariffs on cars and aerospace, adding: “So this is a very good day for both of our countries – a real sign of strength.”

Mr Trump added that the UK was “very well protected” against any future tariffs, saying: “You know why? Because I like them”.

However, he did not say whether levies on British steel exports to the US would be set to 0%, saying “we’re gonna let you have that information in a little while”.

What exactly does trade deal being ‘done’ mean?

The government says the US “has committed” to removing tariffs (taxes on imported goods) on UK aerospace goods, such as engines and aircraft parts, which currently stand at 10%.

That is “expected to come into force by the end of the month”.

Tariffs on car imports will drop from 27.5% to 10%, the government says, which “saves car manufacturers hundreds of millions a year, and protects tens of thousands of jobs”.

The White House says there will be a quota of 100,000 cars eligible for import at that level each year.

But on steel, the story is a little more complicated.

The UK is the only country exempted from the global 50% tariff rate on steel – which means the UK rate remains at the original level of 25%.

That tariff was expected to be lifted entirely, but the government now says it will “continue to go further and make progress towards 0% tariffs on core steel products as agreed”.

The White House says the US will “promptly construct a quota at most-favoured-nation rates for steel and aluminium articles”.

Other key parts of the deal include import and export quotas for beef – and the government is keen to emphasise that “any US imports will need to meet UK food safety standards”.

There is no change to tariffs on pharmaceuticals for the moment, and the government says “work will continue to protect industry from any further tariffs imposed”.

The White House says they “committed to negotiate significantly preferential treatment outcomes”.

Mr Trump also praised Sir Keir as a “great” prime minister, adding: “We’ve been talking about this deal for six years, and he’s done what they haven’t been able to do.”

He added: “We’re very longtime partners and allies and friends and we’ve become friends in a short period of time.

“He’s slightly more liberal than me to put it mildly… but we get along.”

Sir Keir added that “we make it work”.

The US president appeared to mistakenly refer to a “trade agreement with the European Union” at one point as he stood alongside the British prime minister.

Mr Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs on countries in April. At the time, he announced 10% “reciprocal” rates on all UK exports – as well as separately announced 25% levies on cars and steel.

In a joint televised phone call in May, Sir Keir and Mr Trump announced the UK and US had agreed on a trade deal – but added the details were being finalised.

Ahead of the G7 summit, the prime minister said he would meet Mr Trump for “one-on-one” talks, and added the agreement “really matters for the vital sectors that are safeguarded under our deal, and we’ve got to implement that”.

US

Doctor to plead guilty to giving Matthew Perry ketamine before Friends star suffered fatal overdose

Published

3 hours ago

June 17, 2025

admin

Doctor to plead guilty to giving Matthew Perry ketamine before Friends star suffered fatal overdose

A Los Angeles doctor has agreed to plead guilty to giving Friends actor Matthew Perry ketamine in the lead up to his death from a fatal overdose, prosecutors have said.

Dr Salvador Plasencia, who will admit to four counts of distribution of ketamine, faces up to a maximum of 40 years in prison.

He is among five people charged in connection with the death of Friends star Perry, 54, whose body was found in his hot tub by his assistant in October 2023.

The medical examiner ruled that ketamine and other factors caused him to lose consciousness and drown.

The actor had been using the drug through his regular doctor in a legal treatment for depression, but had begun seeking more ketamine than his doctor would give him.

Plasencia is accused of supplying the bulk of Perry’s ketamine in his final weeks. He and three other defendants, including another doctor, agreed to plead guilty in exchange for their cooperation.

Jasmine Sangha, who prosecutors allege was a major ketamine dealer, is alleged to have provided the dose that killed the actor and is the only defendant who has pleaded not guilty to the prosecution’s case.

About a month before the actor’s death, Perry found Plasencia, a doctor who allegedly asked another doctor, Mark Chavez, to obtain the drug for him, according to court filings in the Chavez case.

“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia texted Chavez, according to court filings from prosecutors.

The pair who practised in California met up the same day and exchanged at least four vials of ketamine, the filings said.

After selling the drugs to Perry for $4,500 (£3,314), Plasencia allegedly asked Chavez if he could keep supplying them so they could become Perry’s “go-to” prosecutors said.

Chavez has pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute ketamine to Perry.

Perry struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time on Friends, when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing.

He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004.

US

Suspect in killing of US politician went to homes of other lawmakers in same night, officials say

Published

15 hours ago

June 16, 2025

admin

Suspect in killing of US politician went to homes of other lawmakers in same night, officials say

A man accused of killing a US politician and her husband went to the homes of other lawmakers that night, intending to kill them, officials said.

Vance Boelter, 57, meticulously planned his attacks, carrying out surveillance missions, taking notes on the properties and people he targeted and disguising himself as a police officer, according to Minnesota’s acting US attorney Joseph Thompson.

Authorities believe Boelter wore a mask as he posed as a police officer and shone a torch in the face of some of his victims to disguise his identity.

“It is no exaggeration to say that his crimes are the stuff of nightmare,” said Mr Thompson.

Boelter, 57, allegedly shot and wounded Senator John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, in their Minneapolis home in the early hours of Saturday morning.

He then travelled to the home of another state lawmaker but she and her family were on holiday, so they didn’t answer the door, said Mr Thompson.

Video showed that Boelter rang the doorbell at around 2.24am on Friday but left when the family didn’t respond.

He then drove to the home of an unnamed state senator, but after the Hoffmans’ adult daughter called emergency services to say her parents had been shot, a police officer was dispatched to conduct a wellness check.

That officer saw Boelter’s car parked up the street but thought he was another officer, said Mr Thompson.

Boelter had reportedly altered his car to make it look more like a police car.

He then left and drove to the home of lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, according to an FBI affidavit.

Local police officers, also conducting a check, arrived to see Boelter fatally shoot Mark Hortman through the open door of the home, according to the document.

Melissa Hortman was found dead inside.

Boelter was arrested on Sunday evening after a huge manhunt in a rural area in Sibley County, southwest of Minneapolis.

He faces two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder in the deaths of the Hortmans and the wounding of Mr Hoffman and his wife.

Before his arrest, the father of five texted his family group chat saying: “Dad went to war last night … I don’t wanna say more because I don’t wanna implicate anybody,” according to the affidavit.

His wife got another text that said: “Words are not gonna explain how sorry I am for this situation… there’s gonna be some people coming to the house armed and trigger-happy and I don’t want you guys around,” the document said.

Several AK-style firearms and a list of about 70 names, which included politicians and abortion rights activists, were allegedly found inside his vehicle.

A Minnesota official said politicians who had been outspoken in favour of abortion rights were on the list.