Zoe "never voted for Trump, never voted for anyone in his inner circle." But on a bold Friday afternoon in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, the 24-year-old student walked past a sponge-shaped steel mill to attend a rally titled by the U.S. president.
The trainee's doctor's assistant signaled Anthony to Millwright of Iron and Steel's Irving Factory, where she explained why she brought her there: "I just want to provide job security for my partner and future kids."
For many who attend the event, Jobs and investment are the most important, a long-running legend that began in late 2023 when Japan’s Japanese Iron and Steel agreed to buy a 124-year-old American rust belt employer.
The $15 billion deal was initially seen as a win-win situation for the United States and Japan, and soon became a political flashpoint.
It was then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump who criticized foreign acquisitions as "a terrible thing." Joe Biden objected shortly afterwards.
US Steel, based in Pennsylvania, is a key swing state, with Trump and Biden competing for blue-collar votes. In January, Biden blocked the deal with just 17 days left in his presidency.
A week ago, Trump appeared to support a “planned partnership” between U.S. Steel and Japanese Steel in a social media post.
On Friday, he told a group of steel workers in uniform orange and their families: “There is a lot of money coming.”
The president continued to announce that the steel and aluminum tariffs doubled to 50%, while revealing further details of the so-called partnership.
Ron, who worked for US Steel for 34 years, said the president's reversal of the deal did not bother him. He said: "He has no all the facts."
For many others at the rally, some were magazine hats and shirts, and the commitment to investment overshadowed any doubts about Republican leaders’ flip-flops.
John, a Trump fan, has been a maintenance worker at another U.S. steel plant in Mon Valley for 23 years and said he changed his mind about bidding for Japan after "after "there are more details on it."
The deal was good news, he said, but “somewhat doubts about what happened.”
“Sometimes everyone is changing their minds,” said Ben, a local magazine supporter who is his son Taylor working in the factory. Taylor added: “Japan has been adding sweet pots.”
This sentiment faces the position held by the United Steel Union Union leader. David McCall, president of USW International, slammed the acquisition in his decision as US Steel in 2023 to “ditch concerns about its dedicated workforce and sell it to foreign-owned companies.”
After the rally with a self-welcoming speech delivered by US Steel CEO David Burritt and Nippon Steel Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori, McCall said: “The devil is always in the details and especially bad actors like Nippon, bad actors like Nippon Steel, have violated our trade laws time and time again.”
He added: "Our members know from decades of negotiation contracts: until you see it in writing, you know nothing."
The split within the league was on display at West Mifflin in southeast Pittsburgh, where Trump brought out local USW members for their leadership breaking in support of Nippon's move.
James, who has worked for nearly 19 years at the Clairton Plant of the U.S. Steel, the largest Coke manufacturing plant in the country, said he did not "understand why he was against his superiors" the deal. “If we trust them, where will that bring us?”
Another employee in the audience wore a T-shirt with his USW local number on it and was combined with the slogan: “American was born, combined by choice.”
Stay away from the rally, the local opinions are softer. Earlier in the day, several service workers in downtown Pittsburgh said they had no idea Trump would be in town that night.
But for Steve Smith, an Uber driver who has worked in the so-called steel city for the past 26 years, who has family ties to the industry, the deal makes sense.
Although he expressed some questions about the extent to which the agreement could restore the industry in the region, he said it would be preferable to “another rusty steel plant.”
"If the crux of this is that it keeps American steel in the United States, I have to be a player," he said.