Trump Touts U.S.-Canada-Mexico Trade Deal in Wisconsin

Trump addressed a crowd of supporters in Milwaukee on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade agreement at the Derco Aerospace Inc. plant.

President Donald Trump loves to reminisce about the upset Wisconsin victory he carried off in 2016 after Democrat Hillary Clinton took the state for granted.

He’s determined not to make the same mistake himself.

With Wisconsin now a pivotal state for his reelection chances, Trump arrived Friday for his sixth visit since taking office.

He is making Midwest stops in Wisconsin and Ohio designed to warm up his 2020 campaign engine with fundraisers expected to bring in a combined $7 million, according to the Republican National Committee. He’ll also try to showcase the strong economy and push for Congress to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement , which could squarely impact Wisconsin.

In 2016, he became the first Republican to win Wisconsin since Ronald Reagan in 1984, defeating Clinton by just 22,748 votes. Along with Michigan and Pennsylvania, the Rust Belt state was meant to be the Democrats’ safety net against Trump, but Clinton failed to visit the state even once during the general election campaign — a fact the president has mentioned time and again.

“The Republicans haven’t won the great state of Wisconsin in decades,” Trump reminisced in Florida in March. “I went there a lot and in all fairness, her husband Bill, who’s a good politician — they didn’t listen to him. He said, ‘You better go to Wisconsin.’”

But the state remains starkly divided over the president and appears a toss-up again in 2020.

The latest Marquette University Law School poll in April found 52% of respondents disapproved of how Trump is handling his job, while 46% approved. The poll also found that 54% said they would definitely or probably vote for someone else in 2020, while 42% said they would definitely or probably vote to reelect him.

On the eve of Friday’s trip, Trump lashed out at one of Wisconsin’s favorite sons, former House Speaker Paul Ryan over his unflattering comments about the president in a new book.

“Paul Ryan, the failed V.P. candidate & former Speaker of the House, whose record of achievement was atrocious (except during my first two years as President), ultimately became a long running lame duck failure, leaving his Party in the lurch both as a fundraiser & leader,” Trump tweeted late Thursday.

In a troubling sign for Trump’s chances, Democrats swept every statewide office in the 2018 fall elections.

In the most notable victory for Democrats, Tony Evers defeated Republican Gov. Scott Walker after Walker’s eight years in office. Republicans retained their grip on the state Legislature, but they benefited from district boundaries they redrew to consolidate their power in 2011. Conservative Brian Hagedorn won election to the state Supreme Court this spring.

The Trump campaign believes the state is winnable and plans an all-out blitz there again. But the president’s approval rating has slipped in several key Midwest battlegrounds.

Trump’s Twitter blast against one of the state’s highest-profile figures appeared to stem from anger over Ryan’s comments in a new book, “American Carnage” by Tim Alberta of Politico. In it, Ryan faults Trump for “knee-jerk reactions.”

Ryan did not seek reelection in 2018. Democrats took the House majority, a fact Trump noted in his tweets.

“He had the Majority & blew it away with his poor leadership and bad timing. Never knew how to go after the Dems like they go after us. Couldn’t get him out of Congress fast enough!”

After Air Force One touched down in Wisconsin on Friday, Trump was greeted by cheering onlookers, including a woman who asked him to sign her Christian Louboutin heel. The president obliged.

After that, Trump attended a fundraiser in suburban Fox Point before heading to Milwaukee to visit Derco Aerospace Inc., a subsidiary of aviation giant Lockheed Martin that provides parts, logistics and repair services to fixed-wing aircraft. White House officials said Trump would use the visit to push for the USMCA, whose fate is uncertain in Congress.

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