Hundreds of people waited in a long line wrapped around slot machines at the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa to see President Donald Trump in Las Vegas on Wednesday, where he used the stage to sell his economy message while the city’s tourism-dependent workers and businesses keep absorbing the damage from his trade war and price spikes.
Who Pays First
Tom Port, a 36-year-old professional driver, said he is saving money with Trump’s move to cut tax from tips. "That’s about the best thing he could have possibly done for me, considering a large portion of my income comes directly from tips," Port said. Terilyn Taylor, 60, a teacher in Las Vegas, said she likes Trump but thinks home prices, interest rates and gas prices are too high. "I don't think it's all Trump's fault," she said. She also said she would like to see the Iran war end. "I thought the gas prices would be temporary, so I'm really ready for the Iran thing to be resolved," she said.
Those are the people at the bottom of the pile, trying to make rent, keep gas in the tank, and stretch wages that never seem to catch up. Trump’s pitch was aimed straight at that pressure, but the facts around him told a harsher story: prices stay high, exports fell in June, and the city he was speaking in has already been hit by a slump in visits from tourists.
The Bosses’ Version of the Economy
In his speech, Trump expounded on the tariffs he’s imposed that have touched off a contentious trade war with Canada and said, "Canada's nasty. They are. They're nasty." He added, "I love the people, but they're nasty." Las Vegas' tourism-dependent economy has been hit by a slump in visits from tourists, and the city’s mayor has said visits from Canada — Nevada’s largest international market — has dried up in the wake of Trump’s trade policies and insults to its northern neighbor.
Trump also said U.S. exports are "totally on fire in a positive way" and that they’ve "skyrocketed exports to the highest level in American history." The U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Tuesday that American exports in June fell 0.9% to $314.7 billion. On a three-month moving average, exports are also down. However, exports have increased 11.7% so far this year, largely because of increased exports of gold, oil and other energy products. Energy prices have increased this year because of the Iran war.
That’s the machinery of official optimism: a president talking up strength while the numbers show a monthly drop, a tourism economy takes the hit, and workers are left to live inside the fallout.
State Power, Private Profit
Trump also promoted the Thacker Pass project, one of the world’s largest lithium mines in northern America. The U.S. government last year announced it was taking a minority stake in Vancouver-based Lithium Americas, which is jointly developing the mine with General Motors. The U.S. also took a 5% stake in the mine itself. Trump told the crowd, more than 500 miles away on the other end of the state, that "Many people in this audience are going to be working there, and you are working there." He did not mention the U.S. government’s stake in the project, but shortly after that in his speech, he began warning about the dangers of communism.
The arrangement says plenty. The government takes a stake, General Motors stays in the mix, and the crowd gets told jobs are coming. The ownership sits above them. The labor sits below.
Later, Trump said, "I'm building this big military complex" and that it includes "a lot of different things, and some of the things I can't even talk about." He later said the project will still be a ballroom. Trump originally said the ballroom that he demolished the White House's East Wing to build would be paid for himself and some friendly donors. But costs have ballooned and Senate Republicans eventually tried to advance $1 billion in funding for White House security and military improvements as part of the new complex. That proposal has since stalled. Trump continues to say the ballroom will have strategic value, saying it will include things like drone ports.
Policing, Politics, and the Stage
At the start of the Nevada address, Trump honored Officer Austin Abdelnabi, 30, a U.S. Marine veteran, who was killed in the line of duty on Tuesday while responding to a report of a person with a gun acting erratically and waving a firearm in the air at a business, according to police. "Austin died a hero, and he will never be forgotten, never going to be forgotten," Trump said. "So to every law enforcement officer here today, we thank you for your service. And we say, God bless the men and women of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. And frankly, all of law enforcement." Trump’s comments came after a man in the crowd loudly booed Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo when he referenced Abdelnabi before the president took the stage. Lombardo replied, "No. We're not booing him. He's the officer that passed away here recently."
Trump also lashed out at Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, calling him a communist and predicting that he would lose to Republican nominee Mike Rogers, a former congressman, in November's general election. Trump made particularly charged comments about El-Sayed’s views on Israel. El-Sayed has called for ending U.S. military aid to Israel. Trump said, "He doesn't love Jewish people. He hates them. He hates them with a passion that burns in his heart and there's not a fricking thing he can do about it." El-Sayed, who would be the first Muslim senator, rejected accusations of antisemitism and said, "My commitment to Jewish safety is the same commitment to the safety of my own daughters."
That’s the election theater on display: a president hurling accusations, a Senate race framed through loyalty tests, and the same machinery of power asking people to pick a side while the structure stays intact.
Trump also invited up a Las Vegas couple who work as a police officer and casino waitress, along with their two very young children, to talk about the tax breaks on overtime and tips in Trump's sweeping legislation signed last year. As Trump stepped aside to let them speak, their young toddler began wandering off toward the edge of the stage. Trump moved to intercept the youngster and then cracked a joke about his predecessor Joe Biden that was not quite audible.
Near the end of his remarks, Trump said oil prices will fall once the war in Iran is over, something he has been saying for weeks. He added a new wrinkle, saying the price of oil has stabilized somewhat recently and, "And we may have to send it up again." He said, "We may have to — you know what happens when we send it up. But we hope we don't have to." He did not clarify what he meant. Trump also revived a little-mentioned health care plan, saying that with the help of a Republican-controlled Congress, "We will pass the Great Healthcare Plan. It's called the Great Healthcare Plan." He announced the outlines of the plan in January, but has spent little time speaking about it since then. The centerpiece of the proposal is to send money directly to Americans for health savings accounts to pay for insurance and health costs.
The crowd got promises. The institutions kept their stakes. The workers, tourists, drivers, teachers, and families were left to live with the bill.