Since Macomb County helped deliver the presidency to Donald Trump, he decided to return the favor Saturday night.
He came to Washington Township to tout his record since being inaugurated in 2017 and urge a huge crowd at the Total Sports Park arena to get to the polls in November to elect Republicans.
While the 80-minute speech was filled with talk of the need for a wall at the southern border and a continuation of removing regulations and cutting taxes, Trump also made some news for Michigan at the rally when he said he wants the federal government to fix the badly deteriorating Soo Locks, which connect Lake Superior and Lake Huron in Sault Ste. Marie. The locks are crucial to the shipping industry in Michigan.
“Your lock, it’s not looking too well,” Trump told the crowd, pledging, “We’re going to start (on an upgrade) as soon as I get back” to Washington, D.C.
In fact, depending on how long his speech ran, he said he might even call the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about the project Saturday night, though it might not happen until Sunday.
Trump has only made one visit to Michigan as president — an event in Ypsilanti Township in March 2017, when he talked about revisiting fuel standards for vehicles and renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.
For the full article, see Kathleen Gray, Aleanna Siacon, Paul Egan, “President Donald Trump tells Michigan crowd: I love this state“, Detroit Free Press, April 29, 2018.
For another see Jonathon Oosting and Beth LeBlanc, “Trump: Let’s fix the Soo Locks“, Detroit News, April 29, 2018.