CLYDE, Ohio — President Trump will visit Whirlpool Corp.’s washing machine factory on Thursday in his first trip to Ohio since the coronavirus pandemic caused a statewide shutdown and curtailed the President’s travel schedule.
Mr. Trump will deliver remarks in Clyde on his administration’s efforts to revitalize and support America’s manufacturing sector, the White House said.
The President is also scheduled to appear at a campaign fund-raiser in Cleveland the same day, with tickets ranging from $5,600 to $100,000.
Mr. Trump’s stop in Sandusky County marks his first visit to the state since the start of the coronavirus crisis that has killed 157,000 Americans. Mr. Trump was last here in January for a campaign rally in Toledo that kicked off his re-election effort in 2020.
Since resuming a pared-down travel schedule, Mr. Trump has visited manufacturing facilities in several electorally important battlegrounds: Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. In May, Mr. Trump toured a Ford plant in Ypsilanti, Mich., which had been repurposed to produce ventilators.
Whirlpool’s Clyde plant is regarded as the largest washing machine plant in the world and employs 3,000 people. In 2010, Whirlpool made a $200 million investment in the plant, prompting it to move production of commercial front-loader washers from Mexico to Ohio in 2014.
In 2018, washing machines became part of the Trump administration’s efforts to tax Chinese imports in response to unfair trade practices. A 2019 study found that while the tariffs on foreign-made washing machines shifted some production to the U.S. and created jobs, it also increased the prices of washers and dryers by 12 percent.
The White House cited how Whirlpool said the economic gain from the tariffs allowed it to hire 200 workers.
When Mr. Trump visits Ohio, he’ll be visiting a state in much worse economic shape than it was in the beginning of 2020.
Ohio’s unemployment rate is coming down after spiking due to coronavirus closures, but it was still nearly 11 percent in June.
Data from Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services show the state lost 44,000 manufacturing jobs between June, 2019, and June, 2020.
The President’s trip to Clyde underscores how one of his main arguments for re-election continues to be the economy, and, in the wake of the pandemic, how quickly it can rebound. During the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump vowed to revive manufacturing in places like Ohio, which saw modest job growth overall in 2019 along with the loss of 1,700 manufacturing jobs.
Ohio polls show a close race between Mr. Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, who has yet to visit the state as a presidential candidate less than 100 days from the Nov. 3 election.
Sandusky County is one of nine swing counties in Ohio that voted for President Obama in 2008 and 2012, and President Trump in 2016. Four of those counties — Erie, Ottawa, Sandusky, and Wood — are in northwest Ohio.
First Published August 3, 2020, 7:25 p.m.