If you want to see what President Trump can do to expand manufacturing in America, look past his criticism of free trade and the few jobs he may have saved at Carrier. Instead, look at his plans for the military.
Manufacturing has always relied on public funding in one form or another, and in particular on outlays for weaponry, even nearly three decades after the end of the Cold War. Roughly 10 percent of the $2.2 trillion in factory output in the United States goes into the production of weapons sold mainly to the Defense Department for use by the armed forces.
