President Trump stops in Granite City to celebrate the reopening of the blast furnaces at U.S. Steel Works

Jul 26, 2018 9:45 PM Jul 28, 2018 5:56 AM

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GRANITE CITY - President Donald Trump said he was thrilled to be in the recently reopened U.S. Steel Granite City Works Thursday afternoon to discuss the trade tariffs and celebrate site being open once again.

“We’re here today to celebrate a great victory,” President Trump said. “A victory for all of you, for this community and for our entire country. After years of shutdowns and cutbacks, today the blast furnace here in Granite City is blazing bright. Workers are back on the job and we are once again pouring new American steel into the spine of our country.”

David Burritt, President and CEO of U.S. Steel, said it feels like a “renaissance” is happening in the company as the blast furnaces are back in use and jobs continue to be added at the Granite City Works.

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“The President has been in office really only a short time, but a lot has happened for our company because of the President,” Burritt said as he thanked Trump. “We have a lot of work to do. This was a company that was originally known as the great iconic corporation in 1901. We need to bring back that status, we need to make U.S. Steel great again.”

“We can have steel that is mined, melted and made in the U.S.A.,” Burritt added. “That’s exactly what this facility does.”

Trump also took a moment to recognize Mike Bost, Rodney Davis and John Shimkus who helped strengthen the legislation to enforce rules against certain trade practices.

“Those three people fight for you all the time,” Trump said. “In fact, they fight for you so much that I sometimes say 'I don’t want to take their call today,' but they’re with you all the way, very special people, hardworking Congressmen.”