Trump's latest NC factory announcement completely backfires

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Key takeaways

Federal officials announced a new manufacturing plant in North Carolina.
The mineral company named in the project has not confirmed details.
Economic reports indicate ongoing job losses in the manufacturing sector.

The News Observer reports President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick were quick to announce a new manufacturing plant in North Carolina that would provide raw materials for semiconductors — perhaps too quick.

The Observer reports Sibelco, the mineral company that Lutnick said was behind the new plant, hasn’t confirmed any details of the federal officials’ announcement.

Trump is eager to sell his policies to South Carolina voters because Republicans are fighting for their political lives in a state the party was expecting to dominate without effort. But, aside from ‘closing the border,’ there are relatively few Trump policies that are resonating with Americans.

With his talking points running thin, Trump and Lutnick were quick to announce the groundbreaking of a factory to bolster a global hub for mining in Western North Carolina, which the Observer said produces 70 percent to 90 percent of the world’s high purity quartz — a key raw material in semiconductor and solar panel manufacturing.

However, a Sibelco spokesperson told The News & Observer that the company is only “aware of recent public comments regarding a potential project involving the company in North Carolina.”

“At this time, we are awaiting the official communication from the U.S. Government and are therefore not in a position to comment or provide information beyond what has been publicly announced through official channels,” the spokesperson said. “Should further information be announced, Sibelco will share relevant details through its communications channels.”

The setback comes as the president’s standing continues to plummet among working Americans. Trump promised when he ran for reelection in 2024 that he would revitalize American jobs, particularly in traditionally masculine industries like manufacturing. Yet according to a report by a business journalist, that's just not what's happening.

“The White House promised a manufacturing renaissance,” wrote Fortune business editor Nick Lichtenberg. “Instead, the factory floor keeps shrinking.”

The journalist added that “the blue-collar job market has been slowing for more than a year, with jobs in manufacturing and construction racking up roughly 150,000 net losses on an annual basis as of March… During Trump's first year back in the White House, the manufacturing sector alone shed 108,000 jobs — even as the administration touted an incoming 'manufacturing boom.'”

While campaigning in 2024, Trump also pledged to eliminate the entire national debt in just one term. He also claimed he’d do it without cutting “one penny” from Social Security or Medicare. Instead, he suggested that he would eliminate the debt through growth, crypto, and tariffs. But according to Atlantic columnist David Frum, not only were Trump’s “absurd” plans little more than “fantasies,” but the bill has come due with potentially disastrous consequences.

Instead, Frum said Trump’s tax cuts reduced government revenues by $4.5 trillion over the next decade, and his cuts to food stamps and Medicaid reduced spending by just $1.1 trillion. Meanwhile, Trump’s budget plans generated $3.4 trillion in direct costs over the decade ahead — and this grows to $4.1 trillion because of the rising costs of debt service in the Trump era.

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