‘Total betrayal’: Trump rips into Clinton, trade deals

MONESSEN, Pa. — Speaking in the heart of the nation’s struggling Rust Belt, Donald Trump reiterated his opposition to U.S. trade deals he says have devastated American workers and accused his likely Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, of supporting globalist policies that will further gut the nation’s manufacturing base.

Trump made the accusations while standing before large piles of crushed aluminum cans and other material at a recycling plant here in a hard-hit manufacturing town south of Pittsburgh. The presumptive Republican nominee spoke of the “total betrayal” that Clinton and other politicians had delivered upon American workers by backing trade deals that have sent jobs abroad.

“Our politicians have aggressively pursued a policy of globalization — moving our jobs, our wealth and our factories to Mexico and overseas,” the billionaire developer said, speaking from prepared remarks and using a teleprompter. “Globalization has made the financial elite who donate to politicians very, very wealthy. I used to be one of them. Hate to say it, but I used to be one of them.”

In what was perhaps the most detailed policy speech of his campaign, Trump vowed to rip up trade deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade pact that was negotiated by the Obama administration, and the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he has repeatedly linked to Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Democrats, noting that Trump has manufactured many of his own products overseas, accuse the businessman of being a hypocrite on free trade.

Trump also pledged to more aggressively challenge China for manipulating its currency and violating trade laws, vowing to use “every lawful presidential power” he has to stop them. He repeatedly described the Chinese government as “cheaters” that have not been aggressively challenged by U.S. officials, who he said are too closely aligned with special interests to thwart China’s ambitions.

Trump tied Clinton to those special interests, suggesting she being supported by those “who rigged the system” and who are waging “a campaign of fear and intimidation” to scare Americans about his candidacy. He said Clinton would accuse him of risking a trade war but countered: “We already have a trade war, and we’re losing badly.”

“They know as long as she is in charge, nothing will ever change,” Trump said. “The inner cities will remain poor. The factories will remain closed. The special interests will remain firmly in control.”

“We can either give in to Hillary Clinton’s campaign of fear, or we can choose to believe again in America,” Trump said, promising that he would “Make America wealthy again.”

Trump’s speech came as he sought to turn the page on what has been several weeks of mostly self-inflicted problems that have sent his campaign into turmoil, including furor over racially tinged remarks he made about a federal judge and controversy over his response to the mass shooting in Orlando.

In speaking about trade and its impact on the American economy, Trump returned to a theme that was largely credited as a driving force behind his successful bid for claim the GOP nomination. His campaign believes his appeal to working-class voters will help him be competitive in what have been traditionally Democratic-leaning states, including Pennsylvania, as he seeks to lock up the 270 electoral votes needed to claim the White House.

Tuesday marked Trump’s second visit in as many weeks to the Pittsburgh area, and he was scheduled to campaign later across the Ohio border in another struggling manufacturing town devastated by the collapse of the steel industry.

With the speech, Trump also seemed to be trying to woo supporters of Bernie Sanders and others on the left who have been critical of Clinton’s stance on trade. Sanders has so far refused to endorse Clinton even though she has locked up the delegates necessary for the Democratic Party nomination.

“As Bernie Sanders said, Hillary Clinton ‘voted for virtually every trade agreement that has cost the workers of this country millions of jobs,’” Trump said.

Echoing Sanders, Trump accused Clinton of changing positions on TPP. He challenged her to join him in saying she would void the agreement in its entirety if she is elected president. But he predicted she would not, and said as president she would likely “betray” American workers again.

But in talking up his opposition to global free trade, Trump also put himself on a collision course with many in his own party who have also supported pacts like NAFTA and TPP.

During his speech, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of Washington’s most influential trade groups and a key GOP ally, issued a series of messages on Twitter rebutting Trump’s remarks, including one dismissing his comment that NAFTA is a “disaster.”