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

Published

2 months ago

August 31, 2024

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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

Five things to expect from White House meeting between Joe Biden and Donald Trump

Published

49 mins ago

November 13, 2024

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Five things to expect from White House meeting between Joe Biden and Donald Trump

President Joe Biden has invited Donald Trump for a meeting at the White House today.

This is what we expect is likely to happen.

Guest List

The meeting takes place at 11am local time (4pm UK time). It’s unclear whether they’ll be joined by anyone else for the “meet and greet”.

The final plans are still fluid but, as of last night, vice president Kamala Harris wasn’t expected to attend and JD Vance, the vice president-elect, hadn’t received an invitation from her.

The future first lady, Melania Trump, has been invited to accompany her husband on the visit but it’s thought unlikely she will attend. She did make the visit in 2016 and had tea in the Yellow Oval Room with the then first lady Michelle Obama.

It’s unclear whether the current first lady, Dr Jill Biden, will participate, although she is scheduled to be at the White House.

Enemies Reunited

The Oval Office meeting will be the first between Mr Biden and Mr Trump since the pair shared a TV debate stage in Atlanta last June. It was the night Mr Biden’s gaffes cost him the candidacy.

On that occasion, there was no handshake between the two old enemies and the mood darkened as the verbal sparring began.

“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence,” said Mr Trump. “I don’t think he knows what he said either.”

Mr Biden said of Mr Trump: “You’re the sucker, you’re the loser.”

It was the language of loathing that has long characterised the pair’s interactions. In the past, Mr Biden has called Mr Trump a “threat to this nation”, and Mr Trump has called Mr Biden “stupid”, and a “low-IQ individual”.

And remember, Mr Trump has threatened to pursue retribution against Mr Biden, stating he would hire a “real special prosecutor” to go after him.

On this historic occasion, expect the coldest handshake in American history.

Precedent

Former president Barack Obama invited then president-elect Trump to meet at the White House two days after the 2016 election.

The sit-down in the Oval Office lasted approximately 90 minutes and Mr Obama called it “an excellent conversation” that was “wide-ranging”.

Then vice-president Biden met with then VP-elect Mike Pence during that time as well.

Six days later, the Bidens hosted the Pences at their home.

Mr Trump did not invite Mr Biden for a 2020 visit to the White House, while refusing to concede the election.

In snubbing Mr Biden, Mr Trump bucked a presidential tradition that had gone back decades.

Former president George W Bush hosted Mr Obama in 2008 and Laura Bush hosted Michelle Obama, while former president Bill Clinton hosted Mr Bush in 2000.

What will Mr Biden and Mr Trump discuss?

There is no published agenda but there’s every chance we’ll hear it first hand from either, or both. TV cameras will film the event and both men will have the opportunity to take questions.

Following his 2016 meeting with Mr Trump, then president Barack Obama said: “We talked about some of the organisational issues in setting up the White House. We talked about foreign policy.

“We talked about domestic policy and, as I said last night, my number-one priority in the coming two months is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our president-elect is successful.”

It is a familiarisation meeting, as much as anything else. Senior staffers, on both sides, will also meet their counterparts.

What’s in it for them?

For both men, this meeting symbolises an orderly transition of power.

Presidents, outgoing and incoming, working for the good of the country. It works for Mr Trump because why wouldn’t it? He won decisively and will survey the spoils.

It works for Mr Biden because a peaceful transition represents everything that, for him, Mr Trump doesn’t: respect for the office, respect for the people and respect for democracy.

As much as this meeting is wrapped up in the politeness of protocol, it has hard politics at its heart.

US

Donald Trump confirms Elon Musk will co-lead new department of government efficiency

Published

3 hours ago

November 13, 2024

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Donald Trump confirms Elon Musk will co-lead new department of government efficiency

Donald Trump has confirmed Elon Musk will co-lead the new department of government efficiency.

The president-elect said on Tuesday that the Tesla and X owner – who is also the world’s richest man – will work with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the department, which is known as DOGE for short.

The appointment fulfils a promise Mr Trump made to the tech billionaire after he endorsed him in the race for the White House, and poured more than $119m (£92m) canvassing for him in the seven battleground states.

In a statement, the president-elect said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.

Despite its name, the DOGE is not a government agency and is instead set to provide “advice and guidance” from the outside of government.

The statement released by Mr Trump said it will partner with the office of management and budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to government never seen before”.

This will likely mean both Mr Musk and biotech entrepreneur Mr Ramaswamy will be allowed to continue working in the private sector and serve without Senate approval, Sky News’ US partner network NBC reported, as they would technically not be federal workers.

Federal employees are generally required to disclose their assets to ward off any potential conflicts of interest, and to divest significant holdings relating to their work.

After being elected president in 2016, Mr Trump handed over control of his business empire to his sons in order to try and avoid a conflict of interest. The move was later criticised by the director of the office of government ethics that it did not go far enough and Mr Trump “still [knew] what he owned”.

‘More efficiency and less bureaucracy’

A deadline of 4 July 2026 has been put in place for the new DOGE to conclude its work.

The DOGE acronym coincides with a popular meme and the name of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin that Mr Musk promotes.

Mr Trump added: “A smaller government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of The Declaration of Independence. I am confident they will succeed!”

Mr Musk said in the statement that the department will “send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste”.

The billionaire has said in the past he wants to cut $2trn from the federal budget but has provided few details on what he would cut.

Meanwhile, Mr Ramaswamy, who threw his support behind Mr Trump after suspending his own bid for the presidency in January, previously called for mass lay-offs in federal agencies.

The union representing federal workers said in a statement on Tuesday that if the DOGE implements these recommendations, or ones similar, it would “mean massive cuts” to multiple departments.

In a string of picks for his second administration, Mr Trump also named Fox New host and army veteran Pete Hegseth as defence secretary and said he would nominate former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe to be director of the CIA.

Earlier this week, the president-elect named Susie Wiles – who ran his 2024 presidential campaign – as his White House chief of staff, the first woman in history to take up one of the most important non-elected roles in Washington.

Florida senator Marco Rubio is reported to be named as secretary of state, who serves as the president’s chief foreign affairs adviser and the country’s top diplomat.

If chosen, Mr Rubio would be first Latino member of the president-elect’s top team, but Mr Trump could still change his mind on the appointment.

Below is a list of all the appointments Mr Trump has made for his administration so far:

• Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff
• Pete Hegseth, secretary of defence
• Mike Waltz, national security adviser
• Tom Homan, “border czar”
• Elise Stefanik, United Nations ambassador
• Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff for policy
• Lee Zeldin, head of the Environmental Protection Agency
• Mike Huckabee, ambassador to Israel
• Steven Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East
• John Ratcliffe, CIA director
• William McGinley, White House counsel
• Kristi Noem, secretary of homeland security.

US

Pentagon leaker sentenced to 15 years in jail after sharing military secrets online

Published

6 hours ago

November 12, 2024

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Pentagon leaker sentenced to 15 years in jail after sharing military secrets online

A member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who leaked classified Pentagon information has been jailed for 15 years.

Jack Teixeira shared documents that contained information about the war in Ukraine on the messaging platform Discord.

The leak exposed information about troop movements in Ukraine, and the provision of supplies and equipment to Kyiv’s soldiers.

He began sharing the documents in 2022, Sky News’ US partner network NBC News reported, and had held top-secret security clearance since the year before.

Teixeira pleaded guilty earlier this year to six counts of wilful retention and transmission of national defence information following his arrest in the most consequential national security case in years.

Wearing an orange jumpsuit, he showed no visible reaction as he was sentenced by US district judge Indira Talwani.

Before being sentenced, he apologised for his actions, saying: “I wanted to say I’m sorry for all the harm that I brought and caused.”

He referenced the “maelstrom” he created and added: “I understand all the responsibility and consequences fall upon my shoulders alone and accept whatever that will bring.”

Afterwards, Teixeira, of North Dighton, Massachusetts, hugged one of his lawyers and looked toward his family and smiled, before being led away.

The security breach raised alarm over America’s ability to protect its most closely guarded secrets and left the Biden administration scrambling to try to contain the fallout.

The leaks were also embarrassing for the Pentagon which tightened controls and disciplined members who failed to take necessary action over the 22-year-old’s suspicious behaviour.

Assistant US attorney Jared Dolan said Teixeira’s sentencing would “be a cautionary tale for the men and women in the US military”.

Teixeira’s own lawyers said that while his actions were criminal, they were never intended to “harm the United States”.

“Instead, his intent was to educate his friends about world events to make certain they were not misled by misinformation,” the lawyers claimed.

Prosecutors in court said he tried to cover his tracks as they found a smashed tablet, laptop and Xbox in a rubbish bin at his house.

Teixeira, who was part of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, worked as a cyber transport systems specialist – an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks.