In an emotional speech, a Pennsylvania steelworker thanked President Trump for boosting the American steel industry with a massive tariff increase, which the president initiated to boost the U.S. economy, create new jobs, and secure the jobs of those who work in the industry.
For context, Brian Pavlak, a third-generation steelworker and the president of Steelworkers for Trump, praised President Trump for his commitment to American workers after Trump announced that he was raising the tariffs on steel imports from 25% to 50%, leading the American steel industry to celebrate. In addition, Pavlak described the president as his “hero” and “the greatest president ever.”
Pavlak stood up before a crowd of fellow steelworkers, along with President Trump, at an event at U.S. Steel’s Irvin Works in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, and said, “It’s a great day to be an American steelworker!” He added, “The attempted assassination of then-presidential candidate Donald J. Trump prompted me to establish Steelworkers for Trump. Our membership now exists to 2.5k.”
Next, Pavlak said that he believed that President Trump has shown “remarkable support” for the workers in the American steel industry, saying that Trump’s bolstering of the industry is “surpassing the collective efforts of all other presidents combined.” He continued, “Through tariffs, he has fought to keep steel being made in America rather than being dumped on us by China.”
Concluding his speech, Pavlak said that through the new tariff increase, President Trump “has fought to keep us billions of dollars in investments, which will secure jobs for generations to come.” He added, “Thank you, President Trump,” as the crowd erupted into cheers. The president stepped forward, smiling at Pavlak and saying, “Good job!”
When Pavlak’s speech was shared on X by conservative commentator George Behizy, commenters celebrated, with congressional candidate Valentina Gomez replying, “The only thing hardworking Americans and the rest of us want are leaders that care and are willing to put everything on the line for the people.” Another commenter chimed in, “President Trump is on the move. It is good that he has the support of blue-collar workers. That has been one of the major inroads that Republicans have made during the Trump era.”
In addition, during his appearance at Irvin Works, President Trump told the crowd of steelworkers that he was working to secure American jobs with the tariffs, saying, “Crippling imports of foreign steel skyrocketed over the last four years like you have never seen before, by over 30%. That’s an incredible, crazy number.” After he announced that he was raising the tariff on steel imports to 50%, cheers erupted from the crowd, and he added, “At 25%, they can sort of get over that fence. “At 50%, they can no longer get over the fence.”
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Furthermore, in a May 30, 2025, Truth Social post, the president added, “Our steel and aluminum industries are coming back like never before. This will be yet another BIG jolt of great news for our wonderful steel and aluminum workers. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Watch the steelworker’s speech:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video