On Wednesday, nearly 1,400 people were laid off at the former Navistar truck plant in Springfield, Ohio. On Saturday, Donald Trump held a rally in the Dayton area and told the crowd their state is booming. The layoffs were big enough to basically wipe out an entire year of job growth in the greater Dayton area.
This is the Republican economy up close. Families losing paychecks while the President insists the only problem is the messaging.
The Last Shift
The Springfield plant has built trucks for generations. Its owner, International Motors, the company formerly known as Navistar, warned the state in July that about 1,341 workers across its two Springfield sites would be laid off by early October. Most of them are union members with UAW Local 402.
International is selling the facilities to Roshel, a Canadian maker of armored vehicles. The sale ends more than 100 years of the company's operations in Clark County. For the people on the line, Sept. 30 was the last day.
Tariffs Were Supposed to Save These Jobs
Trump sold his tariffs as the cure for places like Springfield. It did not work out that way. The Associated Press reported that his broad tariffs failed to boost demand and the plant's owner chose to offload the facility. In recent years the plant had been doing almost nothing but contract work for a major automaker, and that contract ran out on Sept. 30.
The Republican Big Beautiful Bill did not help much either. AP found it added little to workers' take-home pay. A forklift driver at the plant said there was barely any overtime to collect because of the economy, so the tax break on overtime meant almost nothing to her.
Three Trump Votes, and Now He's Done
Kyle Bos, a 30-year-old UAW member with two daughters and a third on the way, was one of the workers let go. He told AP he voted for Trump three times. Now he says he is done with him and plans to spend the final weeks before the election knocking on doors for Democrats.
Bos said groceries that used to fill a cart now buy five items. He called Trump's promise of $5,000 checks if Republicans keep Congress a bribe and an insult to voters' intelligence. He is not alone. AP polling shows just 17% of Americans approve of how Trump is handling the cost of living.
Trump's Answer: It's a PR Problem
The day after the layoffs, Trump stood in a truck plant in Texas and claimed manufacturing is coming back everywhere. Then he said it: "The only thing we're doing badly at is public relations."
On Saturday night he brought that message to a packed gym at Vandalia-Butler High School to campaign for Republican Sen. Jon Husted and Vivek Ramaswamy. He told the crowd "Your state is booming" and credited his favorite word, tariff. He even bragged about new jobs promised in Springfield, the same city where nearly 1,400 people had just lost their jobs.
What Republicans Say
The White House pointed to an $850 million investment by aircraft maker Electra, plus announcements from Honda and Stellantis, as proof Trump's policies are creating jobs in Ohio. It says his tax cuts and trade deals have helped the state.
Roshel says it is working to protect the current workforce and wants to more than double it over the coming years. Laid-off workers told AP they expect to be rehired in six to 12 months. That is six to 12 months of bills with no paycheck from the plant.
The Senate Hangs in the Balance
This is not just a local story. Republican Jon Husted is in a tight race with former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, and the head of the Senate GOP's campaign arm now calls it dead even. Democrats likely have no path to a Senate majority without Ohio.
At the same rally, Husted bragged that Ohio just hit its lowest unemployment rate on record. PolitiFact noted the previous record low was set in May 2023, under Joe Biden. Try selling that record to 1,400 workers in Springfield. Election Day is November 3.
The Bottom Line
Nearly 1,400 Ohio families lost their paychecks, and three days later Trump showed up to tell them everything is booming. Tariffs did not save the plant. The Republican tax bill did not fatten their checks. And the President thinks the only thing wrong is his public relations. Ohio voters can send a different message in November.
Sources: Associated Press via PBS News (Josh Boak), Dayton Daily News (Aimee Hancock, Eileen McClory, Bryant Billing, Sydney Dawes), WOSU/WYSO, PolitiFact, International Motors.