WASHINGTON (AP) — Air conditioning company Carrier said Tuesday that it had reached a deal with President-elect Donald Trump to keep nearly 1,000 jobs in Indiana. Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence planned to travel to the state Thursday to unveil the agreement alongside company officials.
Trump spent much of his campaign pledging to keep companies like Carrier from moving jobs overseas. His focus on manufacturing jobs contributed to his unexpected appeal with working-class voters in states like Michigan, which has long voted for Democrats in presidential elections.
The details of the agreement were unclear. Carrier tweeted that the company was “pleased to have reached a deal” with Trump and Pence to keep the jobs in Indianapolis.
A transition official confirmed that the president-elect and Pence, who is ending his tenure as Indiana governor, would appear with Carrier officials on Thursday. The official insisted on anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the trip ahead of an official announcement.
Trump said last week that he was “making progress” on trying to get Carrier to stay in Indiana.
The event in Indiana will be a rare public appearance for Trump, who has spent nearly his entire tenure as president-elect huddled with advisers and meeting with possible Cabinet secretaries. He plans to make other stops later this week as part of what advisers have billed as a “thank you” tour for voters who backed him in the presidential campaign.
U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly released the following statement about the news that Carrier plans to keep hundreds of jobs in Indiana:
“This is welcome news for the Hoosier workers who will keep their jobs, and I’m eager to learn the specific details of the agreement. For many months I have been fighting alongside the Carrier workers and pushing to keep these jobs in Indiana. While this is good news, in Indiana alone, there are at least two other companies currently planning to move Hoosier jobs out of the country. We need to change our laws to encourage companies to grow here at home. I hope President-elect Trump will work with me toward this goal, so that companies will invest in the foundation of our economy: our workers and our communities.”
