MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
President Trump traveled to Pennsylvania today to celebrate a multibillion-dollar deal - a deal between the iconic American company U.S. Steel and Japanese rival Nippon Steel.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We're here today to celebrate a blockbuster agreement that will ensure this storied American company stays an American company. You're going to stay an American company. You know that, right?
KELLY: Trump says U.S. Steel will remain under domestic control, but there are still all kinds of questions about this agreement, including whether or not it is final. NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez is here to break down what Trump is promising. Hi, Franco.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Hey, Mary Louise.
KELLY: Hey. So you've been watching his speech outside Pittsburgh tonight. What did you see?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, I mean, it felt very much like a campaign stop, but he's surrounded by steel workers. I mean, he walked onto the stage to his campaign music, and he delivered a very political speech. I mean, he attacked Biden. He touted how much he loves tariffs. And it was actually when he was talking about his tariff agenda when he stopped to say that he had another big announcement to deliver. And he told the crowd that he's doubling tariffs on foreign steel imports.
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TRUMP: We're going to bring it from 25% to 50%, the tariffs on steel into the United States of America, which will even further secure the steel industry in the United States.
ORDOÑEZ: He promised no U.S. Steel layoffs as a result of the deal and that all Steel workers will receive a $5,000 bonus. And as you said, we still don't know, though, if this deal is a final deal or when it will go into effect.
KELLY: But back up a second, Franco, because President Trump had opposed this deal. He said he would block it. President Biden before him had said the same thing. What changed?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, both of them said they were against it during the campaign. You know, Biden said it was because of grounds on national security. Trump said he would do the same on the same grounds, but Trump clearly changed his tune, announcing last week that $14 billion deal that he said will keep U.S. Steel in the U.S., as well as in Pittsburgh.
KELLY: Yeah, and we said there's still a lot of questions. Do we know how different this deal looks than what was proposed before?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, I mean, that part is really hard to say. I mean, the details are still quite murky. And there are real questions about if it is different. I mean, Trump, though, insisted that the company would remain under U.S. control. But when you talk to industry analysts about these things, those who are following all the different moves, I mean, they say this may not be that different than what was originally proposed - you know, the selling of U.S. Steel - but they say Trump is calling it a partnership to avoid sounding like he switched his position. And I'll just add that Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who does support the deal, he also calls it an acquisition of U.S. Steel by Nippon.
KELLY: An acquisition - a deliberate word choice there because it suggests that this is an American company that would be taken over.
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. I mean, and that's really controversial. You know, because it is an iconic U.S. company, for it to be taken over by a foreign entity would be a big deal. You know, the reality is that U.S. Steel, though, has struggled financially and that the company's own leaders have argued that it needs to be sold in order to protect jobs. And look; the union that represents many of these workers, they have also raised a lot of concerns about this deal just last week. The U.S. Steel workers claimed that these were all just flashy promises about proposed investments but that it was clear to them that Nippon is really just focused on undercutting the steel industry from the inside.
KELLY: White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, thanks.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you, Mary Louise. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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