Trump will try to sell infrastructure plan

cleveland.com

CLEVELAND

President Donald Trump will once again try to gain support for his infrastructure plan in Ohio today when he speaks at a union training facility in Richfield.

The administration sees infrastructure investment as a winning plan – a chance for the Republican president to strike a deal at a time when he needs a political win. But Trump tried that approach previously in Ohio in 2017, with his announcement mostly being overshadowed by a more scandalous topic: the then-impending testimony of fired FBI Director James Comey.

The president will make another attempt to curry support for his infrastructure proposal after 2 p.m. to a group of workers inside a training facility for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 18 in Richfield. The event is not open to the public.

Trump released his infrastructure plan in February, which includes using $200 billion in federal money to spur $1.5 trillion in investment from states, municipalities and private companies to rebuild the nation’s roads, bridges and waterways.

A senior administration official said the White House wanted to make a strong push to finish the deal by the end of the year.

However, the chances of a full-on infrastructure deal seem unlikely with Congress at a standstill and election season in full swing.

The investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and Trump’s low popularity has also largely hamstrung the president’s initiatives in his first 15 months in office.

Congressional Democrats are lukewarm on the plan itself, saying it unfairly relies too much on state and local government funding.