Vice President JD Vance promised lower prices and bigger paychecks for American workers during his address at an industrial facility in Toledo, Ohio, Thursday morning.
Vance said the Trump administration is focused on tax cuts for the working class, reducing taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security. He said the Internal Revenue Service has reported this will be the biggest tax-refund year in the history of the United States.
Vance also promised that the government will “end the green energy scam” and “get illegal criminals the hell out of the United State of America.”
“That is how you lower prices,” Vance said. “Focus on American workers and invest in American homebuilding. You don't give all of our homes to illegal aliens. That is the legacy of the Biden-Harris administration.”
The Biden administration had made some federal housing assistance available to some refugees or asylum-seekers, but there was no federal program to provide permanent housing to people in the country without legal status.
Throughout his address, Vance was quick to blame what he called the “radical left” for — and distance the Trump administration from — the state of the country, especially the economy.
“There’s an affordability crisis in America,” Vance said. “One caused by Joe Biden’s policies. You don't turn the Titanic around overnight.”
“Fight every single day for better home prices for Americans, for lower prescription drug prices, and of course, for rising wages,” Vance continued. “That is what we're going to do. That is what we have done. And that is what we promise will be the legacy of the second Trump administration.”
Vance’s visit followed in the wake of the Trump administration’s sudden freezing of the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership funds. The funds support organizations like Cleveland’s Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network, or MAGNET, program, a nonprofit that helps small and medium manufacturers grow across Ohio.
Democratic Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur of Ohio's 9th District denounced the decision as “not America first.”
“It is a direct blow to family-owned businesses and American entrepreneurs competing against Communist China,” Kaptur said. “It delays critical upgrades, injects uncertainty into local production lines, and undermines the very workers this nation depends on.”
Ethan Karp, the president and CEO of MAGNET, said in a statement to Michigan Public that the organization eliminated 16 positions after federal MEP funding was pulled abruptly. He said it cut nearly half its staff in the past year.
“With funding frozen, many centers across the state are closing or winding down operations,” Karp said. “That puts thousands of manufacturers — and the jobs tied to them — at risk, not just in Ohio but across the Midwest supply chain.”
In his Thursday morning address, Vance also touched on an issue of growing international significance: the Trump administration's plans around Greenland, a territory belonging to Denmark, but which Donald Trump has threatened to seize.
“Greenland matters to American national security because our entire missile defense relies on security in the Arctic,” Vance said. “What if, God forbid, but what if a foreign country launched a missile at the United States of America?”
Leaders of Denmark and Greenland have rebuffed any challenge to their sovereignty.
