MOUNT PLEASANT, Wisc. –President Donald Trump was in Wisconsin Thursday at the groundbreaking for a $10 billion Foxconn plant in Wisconsin.
Trump said Thursday that what used to be a field about 30 miles south of Milwaukee in Mount Pleasant will become one of the largest developments ever built in the world at 20 million square feet.
Trump was joined by House Speaker Paul Ryan and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker for the groundbreaking.
The Taiwanese electronics company is promising to create 13,000 jobs.
“This is magnitude like we’ve never seem,” Trump said. “18 months ago this was a field and now it’s one of the most advanced places of any kind you’ll see anywhere in the world. It’s incredible.”
To win Foxconn, Wisconsin gave $4.5 billion in state and local incentives.
Critics say that is too much.
There are also environmental concerns. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is expected to file a lawsuit challenging an EPA rule change for the plant.
For Trump, it was another visit to the state he narrowly won in 2016. The Foxconn project presented him with a chance to say his America First policies are working.
“Today we’re seeing the results of the pro-America agenda,” he said.
The president’s visit comes as he challenges Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson. The company announced it’s moving some production overseas. Trump responded threatening to impose tariffs on motorcycles produced elsewhere and shipped back to the US for sale.
After touting the Foxconn victory, Trump shifted to other topics including retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. He said a search for a replacement is already underway.
“We’ll be picking somebody and hopefully making you ever proud,” he said.