Trump claims he is the “manufacturing president” and that there is a “building boom” but these claims are not based in any reality:
- Lost 75,000 manufacturing jobs under Trump (Biden added 625,000 over comparable period)
- Factory building peaked under Biden (thanks to IRA and CHiPs Act) to $250bn, investments under Trump down to $175bn
- Trump claims AI data centers are helping the mythological manufacturing boom, however
- data construction not enough to compensate for factory loss
- data centers do not employ nearly as many people as factories
- Also, tariffs have played a role in all this, because of rising cost of steel and aluminum, it has discouraged building
Source: Steve Rattner
