Trump shifting focus back to job creation

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump is trying to change the subject back to his promise to make American job creation a top priority.

“We want to get back to running our great country,” Trump said at a White House news conference Friday after a week that saw Washington and much of the country fixated on the damaging testimony of his fired FBI director.

Facing turmoil about investigations over his campaign’s ties to Russia, Trump plans to bring more Americans into the economy by having them start working as apprentices. The effort follows a week spent on infrastructure in which the president remained relatively vague about his policies in hopes of starting a conversation.

The jobs-training initiative is aimed at millions of Americans who could consider apprenticeships instead of four-year college degrees, which can leave them struggling to pay off student loans. But as presented by White House aides, the push so far lacks the details of a significant policy drive.

Trump’s young presidency is facing an increasingly tense period, amid the congressional and Justice Department probes into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and ties to the Trump campaign. Other items on the Trump agenda are also mired in uncertainty, including a tax overhaul and plans to replace the health insurance law signed by President Barack Obama in 2010.

To turn to jobs and apprenticeships in particular, Trump is visiting a technical college in Waukesha, Wis., today, delivering a policy speech at the Labor Department on Wednesday and meeting with eight governors at the White House on Thursday.

There are few specifics as to how Trump would encourage more Americans to simultaneously work and learn as apprentices. He intends to improve coordination on the issue among businesses, schools and government leaders.

“It’s really when those elements come together that the country has seen the best results,” Reed Cordish, a presidential aide on intragovernmental and technology issues, said in a conference call with reporters.

Administration officials declined to say how much additional money would be devoted for apprenticeship programs, let alone how they intend to increase the number of people taking part – from roughly 500,000 in fiscal 2016.

At a White House event earlier this year with CEOs, Trump said he was willing to try for a goal of 5 million new apprenticeships over five years. Part of the challenge, White House officials said, was changing negative attitudes toward vocational education.

Funding also may prove an obstacle. Trump’s proposed budget would slash the Labor Department’s budget by a fifth to $9.6 billion and its job-training programs by more than a third. The $90 million spent on apprenticeships would be spared. The plan aims to more tightly organize what his aides say are 43 job-training programs across 13 agencies.

Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter who also is among his advisers, said worker training is necessary for her father to deliver on his promise to create 25 million jobs over a decade.