'We Want To Make Tanks, Not T-Shirts': Donald Trump On Tariffs, Textile Manufacturing

[riversedge]

Source: news18.com




'We Want To Make Tanks, Not T-Shirts': Donald Trump On Tariffs, Textile Manufacturing
Curated By :

Aveek Banerjee

May 27, 2025, 01:36 IST
Trump said he was not interested in moving textile manufacturing back to the United States, outlining his administration's focus on producing military equipment and computers.



US President Donald Trump (File Photo)

US President Donald Trump came out in defence of his hardline tariff strategy, saying his goal was to boost the production of American products of military equipment, computers and artificial intelligence instead of sneakers and t-shirts.

“We’re not looking to make sneakers and t-shirts. We want to make military equipment. We want to make big things. We want to do the AI thing with the computers and the many, many, many, many elements," he said.


.............

Trump said he was not interested in moving textile manufacturing back to the United States. “I’m looking to not make socks. We can do that very well at other locations. We are looking to do chips and computers and lots of other things. And tanks. And chips, meaning ships," he added...............


Read more: https://www.news18.com/world/donald-trump-us-manufacturing-textiles-military-equipment-tanks-t-shirts-tariffs-latest-news-ws-kl-9353168.html

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geez--more killing stuff to be made is what Trump wants!!

[ms liberty]

1. "With the computers and the many many, many many elements

Which elements exactly, Don? Name them. Bet you can't, moran.

[patphil]

2. We have plenty of tanks. Besides they're increasingly vulnerable on a modern battlefield.

In fact, we have more than enough of just about any military weapon.
Textile manufacturing is not a trivial matter, even though Trump dismisses it as socks and t-shirts. It would be nice to see more "made in America" labels on garments. But that's not a glamor item. Tanks rolling down the street as Trump oversees a parade in his honor. Now that's what it's all about.
The Chips and Science act was signed by then President Biden in 2022; 280 billion dollars to boost that industry in the U.S. It sounds like Trump is positioning himself to claim the credit for anything that's done using that money.

[riversedge]

7. Trump is always ready to claim credit for anything good the USA/biden has done!!

[lostnfound]

22. He probably wants to sell them cheap to Russia. But what will China do with all those tanks we've been importing?

gosh he needs a family intervention.

[tanyev]

3. Readability Analyzer on Trump's quotes in the OP, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 3.43

Ah, the strong solid leadership of someone who talks like they’re almost halfway through 3rd grade!

😒

[riversedge]

10. Trump talks like he almost made it through 3rd grade should be a new YELL for all Democrats!!

[thought crime]

23. This is Trump's super power

In an idiocracy, the ability to speak at primary grade level without speaking down to them is a clear winner.
They feel he is one of them, and they're right. He's the Idiot King.

[patphil]

24. Oh, I thought he was the Lying King.

I guess he's both.

[CrispyQ]

4. Just die, you piece of shit. -nt

[Mr.Bee]

5. 'Ghost Army'

I was watching 'Ghost Army' about the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, a top-secret US Army unit during World War II that used deception to confuse and mislead enemy forces.
This unit, comprised of artists, engineers, and soldiers, created elaborate illusions using inflatable tanks, sound effects, and radio trickery to simulate large troop movements and confuse German forces.

Now Wouldn't it be great if they did this on trump's Flag Day parade?
Having four soldiers carrying inflatable tanks underneath, ol' Orange Stain wouldn't know the difference!!

[tanyev]

6. Better for the streets in D.C.!

[Mr.Bee]

9. Forward March!

https://res.cloudinary.com/aenetworks/image/upload/c_fill,w_1920,h_1254,g_auto/dpr_auto/f_auto/q_auto:eco/v1/wwii-ghost-army-gettyimages-92425232?_a=BAVAZGDX0

[Shipwack]

14. Wow! That is impressive!

I always thought that they were cruder, just good enough to fool high altitude airplanes. I had no idea they were this detailed!

I wonder if there are any left, either in storage or private hands. Would love to have one for the front yard…

[sinkingfeeling]

8. Translation: Let Vietnam keep making textiles since they approved my big, beautiful golf resort.

[lonely bird]

11. A couple things...

General Dynamics Land Systems makes tanks among other things.

High tech manufacturing does not employ people on the scale that the automotive and steel industries did during the so-called golden age of capitalism.

[Bayard]

12. Who is this, "We," he speaks of?

Will Israel buy all these tanks?

[Aristus]

18. Not a chance.

Israel built their own indigenous tank, called the Merkava - "Chariot". It's a pretty damned good tank, and if I had had the opportunity to crew any tank while I was in other than my own beloved Abrams, the Merkava would have been it. The Israelis would never buy the Abrams because the specifications for its design are all wrong for the kinds of battles the Merkava fights in the terrains it would be expected to fight in.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkava

[Bayard]

19. Sorry,

I was thinking more of countries who want to buy weapons of war from us.

[keep_left]

13. What's this about "chips"?! The POS is on record...

...opposing Biden's CHIPS Act!

"Trump’s Call to Scrap ‘Horrible’ Chip Program Spreads Panic"

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/technology/trump-chips-act.html

[twodogsbarking]

15. or we could just get along with the rest of the world, at least on some things.

Human rights is non-negotiable. That should be where we concentrate our efforts. But, you know, morons.

[Karasu]

16. So now he's saying he put tariffs on the entire fucking world specifically to bring back manufacturing of exactly two

fucking things that are never happening. I mean, none of this shit is (corporate America has invested far too much into outsourcing everything to ever comply and will gladly price-gouge the fuck out of everyone), but...tanks and computers? Really?

[progree]

17. In MAGA World, any manufacturing is better for men than getting soft in feminized 'email jobs' -

From The Week 5/2/25, p.17 -

Tariffs: The quest to bring back 'manly' jobs -- per Emily Steward writing in Business Insider -

MAGA world thinks that Trump's levies on cheap imports will drive a renaissance in American manufacturing and bring back a time when men toiled with their hands in factories or mines instead of getting soft in feminized "email jobs."

The concept of testosterone-boosting jobs drew recent cheers from Fox News host Jesse Watters: "When you sit behind a screen all day, it makes you a woman.," he said.

The prospect of a factory boom excites internet "incels" who can't find a wife or girlfriend, said Constance Grady in Vox. They believe it will shift the economy back to 1950's style manly employment while shifting away from work that has enabled women to become independent. If women once again need economic support from men, these lonely dudes think they "will be incentivized to sleep with them, and the world will be restored to its proper order."

I added all emphasis

The OP reminded me of this, although the OP is about Trump preferring some "real man" (TBH my characterization of what's in his mind) types of manufacturing over less manly types of manufacturing -- like textiles and sneakers -- while the blurb above from Business Insider / The Week is about manufacturing vs. non-manufacturing feminized "email jobs".

[cstanleytech]

20. It's a pipe dream unless you threaten corporate profits in a way that they can't pass on to consumers.

[Granny Blue]

21. Heart lung machines to save babies born with heart defects would have been a very big thing,

but Trump/Doge shut it down. Electric cars, solar fields, windmills, advanced batteries all would have been big things, but Trump/Doge shut it down. An accessible medical system that actually provides health care would have been a big thing, but Trump isn’t interested. Clean air and water? Yeah, he shut that down too. The only things large enough to interest the malignant monster are things that kill. His only joy comes from inducing fear and suffering in real human beings. He is just about the only person I’ve ever seen who makes me wish that Hell exists.