President Donald Trump’s second-term economic agenda is already reshaping U.S. manufacturing, former White House Domestic Policy Council Director Joe Grogan told Newsmax on Saturday.
Trump's moves on tax policy, tariffs, and deregulation are laying the foundation for what he called a "singular focus" on restoring American dominance, Grogan added.
"What’s different now is President Trump has been totally focused on this, and he has a Republican Congress that’s focused on restoring American dominance in manufacturing," Grogan said on Newsmax’s "America Right Now."
"He’s putting the pieces in place. He got his tax bill reauthorized early on in this term," he said. "He’s implementing tariff policies to juice American manufacturing. And it’s a singular focus of his to reduce red tape and regulations, fight for American manufacturers and companies overseas, talk to our trade partners and say, look, we’re not going to be taken advantage of anymore."
Grogan said the administration learned from the first term and has built a stronger team, because "he's had four years during the Biden term to think this through. He learned a lot in the first term, and he has a fantastic team around him, devoted singularly towards restoring American dominance."
Despite criticism, Trump has already shown progress, Grogan added. "He got his tax bill done early. He’s implemented the tariffs early. He’s already cutting red tape and regulations." He pointed to recent announcements from Apple, Amgen, and aluminum manufacturers pledging to build plants in the U.S. "You see a lot more insourcing of supply chains since President Trump has come into office," Grogan said.
Grogan dismissed claims of manipulated data and defended Trump’s overhaul of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. "They’re revising the numbers to make them more accurate," he said. "But you will see American manufacturers… answer the president’s call to build plants in the United States, create jobs. So yes, there’s going to be a lag here, but I’m confident that we’re going to get there with the focus on deregulation, good solid tariff and trade policies, solid tax policies as well."
On artificial intelligence, Grogan acknowledged disruption but urged adaptation.
"There is no question that artificial intelligence is going to create dislocations," he said. "This has happened before in American history and in world history. The Industrial Revolution displaced people. We need to embrace the technology, while we recognize the fact that some jobs are not going to be there anymore and put policies in place to have a rapidly growing economy and a flexible economy."
He stressed that the administration’s priority must remain job creation. "You can’t have a president and a Congress that’s worried about extraneous stuff that isn’t central to their job. Their number one job is going to have to be cater to American manufacturers, American job creators."
Looking ahead, Grogan said he is optimistic. "This is actually a great opportunity for artificial intelligence to be deployed. The fact that the BLS can’t get these numbers right, this is pathetic. And I’m very glad that President Trump has dispatched Kevin Hassett… to get to the bottom of this and give us accurate numbers," he said.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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