Trump should take on Brazil

President Donald Trump has been in office for 16 days, and during that time more than 800 workers at the General Motors Lordstown assembly plant have lost their jobs.

In addition, Vindicator Business Writer Kalea Hall revealed last week that the sprawling plant, a major contributor to the Mahoning Valley’s economic well-being, will have several weeks of production down time for the popular compact car, the Chevrolet Cruze. The reason: a decline in market demand.

The low cost of gas has sparked a buying spree of SUVs and trucks.

So what has President Trump, the self-styled champion of the factory worker, said about the challenges confronting the complex in Lordstown? Nothing.

Is it unfair to expect the new president to look at the small picture when he has been doing big-picture things, such as imposing a ban on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries?

Well, it was Trump who invited the chief executive officers of the Big Three American auto companies, GM, Ford and Chrysler, to the White House and made it clear to them that he wants cars sold in America to be built in America.

It was the same message he often delivered during the campaign, one that endeared him to blue-collar workers in old industrial regions like the Valley.

That’s why the president’s involvement in what’s going on at the Lordstown plant was to be expected.

Indeed, this writer suggested on Nov. 13, five days after the general election, that the elimination of the third shift at the Lordstown plant loomed as a first test for Trump.

Autoworkers

The column made reference to the autoworkers who were expecting to lose their jobs Jan. 23 and posed this question: “What will President Trump do?”

The Valley is still awaiting an answer.

However, it doesn’t mean Trump should be given a pass by the 48,152 voters in Trumbull County who supported him in the general election. The Republican candidate defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by 6,022 votes there.

In Mahoning County, Clinton won by 3,380 votes – 56,188 to 52,808.

Both counties are predominantly Democratic.

So here’s an easier assignment for the billionaire real-estate developer from New York City: Force the government of Brazil to send accused murderer Claudia Hoerig back to Warren to stand trial for the murder of her husband, Karl Hoerig, a decorated major in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

His body was found in their Newton Falls home in March 2007; he had been shot to death.

The wife fled to her native Brazil just before her husband’s body was discovered by police.

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins, who has been unrelenting in his determination to bring Hoerig’s killer to justice, secured a grand jury indictment of Claudia on a charge of aggravated murder with a gun specification.

After more than nine years of Brazil’s government protecting the accused killer, the wheels of justice finally turned. She was arrested last year after the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled that Claudia was not a citizen of that country since she had maintained her American citizenship.

The ruling triggered an extradition agreement between the United States and Brazil.

But nine months have passed, and there’s no indication from Brazilian officials as to when she will be returned to the Mahoning Valley.

President Trump made it clear during his inaugural speech that America will come first in all his dealings with foreign countries and that the world’s sole superpower will not be pushed around by any nation.

He now has the chance to demonstrate that he means what he says.

Indeed, all that the White House has to do is place a call to Trumbull County Prosecutor Watkins and ask for copies of his files on the Hoerig case. Administration officials will receive reams of information that lay out the legal arguments for bringing Claudia back.

In addition, the White House will receive documents that detail the efforts Watkins, Congressman Tim Ryan, former congressman and now state Rep. John Boccieri, and other members of Ohio’s congressional delegation made to persuade the administrations of former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush to get involved.

There were calls for Obama and Bush to hold off on trade agreements with Brazil until the government in Brasilia stopped protecting Claudia and extradited her.

The secretaries of state in both administrations were also urged to put the interest of justice before this country’s financial interest.

Unfortunately, neither Republican President Bush nor Democratic President Obama gave the issue the attention it deserved.

The case isn’t just about bringing the accused killer of a Valley resident to a court of law. It’s about providing closure to Karl Hoerig’s family members who have waited an inordinate amount of time for justice to prevail.

Finally, the case is about an individual who served his country with distinction here and in the Middle East.

Karl Hoerig was a popular member of the 910th Airlift Wing at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna Township and was a friend of Boccieri’s, who is a lieutenant colonel with the reserve.

In the 16 days he has been in White House, President Trump has made it a point to remind America that the numerous executive orders he has signed are designed to reverse policy decisions made by Obama during his eight-year tenure.

It is clear that Trump intends to rewrite the presidential playbook, which is why his involvement in the Claudia Hoerig case would be a no-brainer.

In fact, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, recently laid out the administration’s view of the world when she said of the organization’s member states, “For those that don’t have our backs, we’re taking names.”

A call from President Trump to Brazilian President Michel Temer demanding the return of Claudia Hoerig should work wonders. All he has to say is, “I expect you to have my back.”