Why did Trump pinpoint Y’town?

Not to look a gift horse (of sorts) in the mouth, but President Donald J. Trump’s mention of Youngstown during his announcement of America’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement was strange, to say the least.

For starters, Trump had no basis for contending that this nation’s participation in the global climate accord was somehow detrimental to Youngstown.

Indeed, Mayor John A. McNally, who was surprised that his city made it into the Republican president’s Rose Garden speech, offered a comment to The Vindicator that could be summed up thusly: Where’s the beef?

Here’s what Republican Trump said that caused a minor political tremor in this region:

“A new deal is possible. It is time to put Youngstown, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania., along with many, many other locations within our great country, before Paris, France.”

The following reaction from Democrat McNally highlighted the fallacy of Trump’s thinking:

“Nothing about the U.S. withdrawal would seem to indicate any form of job creation for the city of Youngstown. The Trump administration has never discussed how the withdrawal would better the lives of Youngstown residents. So while it’s nice to hear our city’s name, there is no substance to the thought of putting us with other cities before Paris.”

Shooting from the lip

While the president has shown a penchant for shooting from the lip – or Twitter – his argument that withdrawing from the climate accord will somehow benefit Youngstown does not hold water.

Just because he says something doesn’t make it so.

We would be having a completely different discussion today had Trump fleshed out his argument by announcing some actual job-creation initiatives.

For example, he could have said he’s funneling millions of dollars into America Makes, the nation’s first manufacturing innovation institute located in downtown Youngstown.

Doing so, however, would have served to remind the residents of the Mahoning Valley that it was Trump’s predecessor in the White House, Democrat Barack Obama, who had the foresight to make the federal government a driver in the advanced manufacturing program.

Indeed, on Jan. 28, 2014, and Feb. 12, 2013, President Obama used his State of the Union speeches to single out Youngstown.

In 2014, he noted that America Makes was an example of how the U.S. can “beat other countries in the race for the next wave of high-tech manufacturing jobs.”

“My administration has launched two hubs for high-tech manufacturing in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Youngstown, Ohio, where we’ve connected businesses to research universities that can help America lead the world in advanced technologies,” Obama said.

In 2013, the president had this to say about the $70 million pilot project in downtown Youngstown:

“Last year, we created our first manufacturing innovation institute in Youngstown, Ohio. A once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the-art lab where new workers are mastering the 3D printing that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything. There’s no reason this can’t happen in other towns.”

Now, that’s a substantive policy statement from the leader of the most powerful country in the world.

The fact that the federal government backed up Obama’s words with dollars was proof of its commitment to the city of Youngstown, in particular, and the region, in general.

By contrast, Trump’s words meant nothing.

It is interesting that five days after he announced America’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, the president visited Ohio to tout his infrastructure improvement program.

But rather than come to the Mahoning Valley – it would have demonstrated his commitment to the region – he went to Cincinnati, in the heart of Republican country.

As has been argued in this space on several occasions, Trump, the billionaire businessman from New York City, succeeded in grabbing a large number of Democratic votes in the Valley from Democrat Hillary Clinton by promising a resurrection of the steel industry.

He also won over a goodly number of workers at the General Motors Lordstown assembly plant with his promise to force American auto manufacturers to expand their domestic operations and reduce their production abroad.

While Trump has taken credit for recent announcements from the Big Three of new investments in their American operations, he has failed to say anything about what’s going on at the GM Lordstown plant.

Since taking office in January, the third shift at the assembly complex has been eliminated because demand for small cars has been weak as consumers switch to sport utility vehicles and trucks.

The end of the third shift resulted in 235 layoffs in the fabricating plant and more than 600 in the assembly facility.

About 100 union workers at Comprehensive Logistics in Austintown also lost their jobs. Comprehensive Logistics does sequencing for the Lordstown plant.

Magna Seating Systems in Lordstown, where the seats for the Cruze are built, laid off 75 employees. And James- town Industries in Austintown, which makes the front and rear bumpers for the Cruze, laid off 15 workers.

But the bad news doesn’t end there.

Because of the large inventory of new Cruzes – there is a 90-day supply, while a 60-day level is the norm – production was halted the weeks of March 13, 20 and 27.

GM has announced that it will have more down time at the Lordstown plant this summer to align with consumer demand for the Cruze.

Given this reality, the comment from Mahoning County Republican Party Chairman Mark Munroe about Trump’s mentioning Youngstown in his Paris climate pact speech rings hollow:

“President Trump has made us proud again, first by upholding his promise to pull out of the job-killing and unfair Paris climate accord, and second, by referring to the people of Youngstown, Ohio, in his Rose Garden speech. His reference to Youngstown is proof once again that the president is looking out for our well-being first.”

Really? Tell that to the hundreds of GM auto workers who have lost their jobs at the Lordstown plant.