DPCC Co-Chair Jeffries: President Trump Should be Focused on Creating American Jobs, not Saving Chinese Jobs

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy & Communications Committee (DPCC), appeared on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer to discuss President Trump's move to lift crippling sanctions on the Chinese tech firm ZTE instead of addressing the lack of good-paying jobs for American families. While the White House and Washington Republicans are consumed by chaos, crisis and corruption, House Democrats remain focused on delivering better jobs, better wages and a better future for all Americans through the A Better Deal economic agenda. Below are excerpts from the interview and a link to the video.

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"Well, it's absolutely a threat to U.S. national security, and as was pointed out, it appears that Americans who utilize ZTE products are at risk of back-door surveillance by the Chinese or other malignant foreign actors. That, in and of itself, is a problem. But this whole extraordinary episode illustrates, Wolf, one of the things that has been most challenging about the Trump administration and the President himself. He says one thing, and then he does another.

"He promised, for instance, that the tax cut bill would not benefit the wealthy and the well off. And then he enacts a bill where 83 percent of the benefits go to the wealthiest 1 percent of the country. He promised that he would not support cuts for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. And then a few months ago turned around and introduced a budget that would cut at least a trillion dollars from Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. And of course, the President promised that he was going to focus on good-paying American jobs, and then he turns around and publicly indicates that he's directing his administration to focus on saving jobs overseas in China. It's shocking."