Some clues about the Trump & the Jones Act?

Professional Mariner Forum
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Some interesting reading on the results of the election from a maritime perspective:
https://www.tradewindsnews.com/insight/congress-is-waking-up-to-us-maritime-vulnerability-will-that-survive-the-election-/2-1-1731767
&
https://www.tradewindsnews.com/insight/trump-will-now-build-his-team-some-names-familiar-to-shipping-are-in-the-running/2-1-1735791

An excerpt:
"A return to the White House by Trump, however, could see changes to the structure of US maritime agencies if it follows the plan of Project 2025 ā€” a Heritage Foundation platform developed by allies of the former president.

The document proposes transferring the US Maritime Administration to the Department of Homeland Security.

And it envisions repealing the Jones Act, the US law that requires American-built ships for domestic trades.

Trump has sought to distance himself from the proposal."

The second article lists some possible appointees w/ discussion.
I know there is a paywall so I will leave this here:
ā€œremovepaywall.comā€"

Anyone have more insight? Seems like we really donā€™t know as Trump has been pretty quiet on the Jones Act this election cycle.

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I donā€™t know. Iā€™m 24 and started college this semester to go to Texas A&M Maritime for the deck side and I voted Donald Trump. I donā€™t know if that was the best interest for my career from everything I hear about him supposedly wanting to get rid of the JA, all I know is I want to afford a home someday and am tired of the bs from the past 4 years. And I hope like hell the JA is here to stay. Iā€™m not going to school to work inland, Iā€™ve wanted to work on deep sea ships since I was a kid, which is pretty reliant on the Jones Act as an American

With that said, I do find it hard to believe that someone who is all about American jobs would eliminate the Jones Act, essentially getting rid of American shipbuilding and US mariners. That would be pretty contradicting to what he runs on

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Depends on who (which lobbyist group) in Washington DC gets and holds the ear of the Trump Administration.

Has nothing to do with American jobs. The anti-Jones Act lobby is on the rise, so Iā€™d take up another career.

This unfortunate insight from having worked for a pro-Jones Act group on Capitol Hill for a few years back in the early 90ā€˜s.

Watch the Failure to Communicate scene from the movie ā€œCool Hand Lukeā€.

Well, we wanted it, so we gets it.

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This Project 2025/anti-JA hoopla that liberals & never-Trumpers tried to tie around Trumps neck is complete & utter nonsense. Pure disingenuous political propaganda. This forum used to have some far righties on it & Iā€™d be ecstatic if a single one of them would chime in & say they support Project 2025. Iā€™m currently on board with some MAGA hat wearing fanatics & know a few back in my hometown of Redneckville, USA & not a single one of them supports Project 2025. Trump has said several times he doesnā€™t like Project 2025 & had nothig to do with its creation. If Trump wanted to get rid of the Jones Act he would have did it his 1st go around instead of getting the ball rolling on new training ships for the state maritime academies. Furthermore, Trump didnā€™t become the 1st republican president in 20 years to win that giant gap of the popular vote because of the Heritage Foundation. He did it in spite of the Heritage Foundation & old school political elites who shunned him in '16 & after the Jan 6th riot. DJT is not indebted to those sabotors at the HF who wrote that Project 2025 that both liberals & conservatives hate.

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When Trump was in office last time he did the exact opposite of try to get rid of the Jones Act. Donā€™t believe the political propaganda from the lefties. Read links below. Also, do you know of any conservatives who are in favor of Project 2025? Being from Texas you have to know some conservative learning folks & has any of them tried to sell you on Project 2025? Just curious?

https://news.usni.org/2020/01/16/test-of-ready-reserve-force-exposes-need-for-newer-ships-more-people

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Oh hey - I spent a lot of life energy supporting and promoting the US flag merchant marine and by default the Jones Act. On Capitol Hill. Daily.

There are many lobbies and interest groups in DC that are working full speed to demonize the Jones Act and US flag carriage requirements. This continues thru spin bins like the Cato Institute.

In my experience these efforts were centered around Big Agriculture, with the cause taken up in legislative hearings by GOP politicians. That is - less money spent on transport = more goods sold. Aā€™murcan Jobs? Not a factor.

The House Merchant Marine Subcommittee
and ODS Subsidies were eliminated under GOP congressional leadership although Clinton was President. We were able to cobble together the MSP as a least some form of replacement consolation, now expiring in 2025 of course. If the goal is to cut the Federal budget by a third, well call MARAD and the MSP ā€œtoastā€ and save the drama.

So the future of US flag shipping is an image / lobby / influence game and right now the winds blow against it.

Who will get the final say in a GOP led Congress and Trump presidency? Hard to say but whoever sings the right tune in the right ears will have the final say because thatā€™s the way the mop flops. It ainā€™t legislation coming from Mr Smith Goes to Washington. Itā€™s from the daily work convincing staffers, congressmen and committees that gets it done and then the President signs the results. Yeah and showing up at fundraisers to grease some palms. Labor could do that very effectively before Citizens United, but now union PAC and maritime industry interests can be outspent 1000:1 by a single individual. Just the way it is.

It is very hard to be convinced maritime labor and (economically) pipsqueak US flag operators are going to have a meaningful voice, or at least one that will be acknowledged, in the discussion involved in any future debate on the fate of the Jones Act.

I bailed out years ago but keep my tickets valid. It was too hard on my mind ā€¦ too emotional and viscerally correct that our trade should travel on US bottoms with Aā€™murcan crews. But DC and the other lobbies ā€¦. Couldnā€™t and didnā€™t give a ā€¦.

If they can legally do it, every US flag operator from a whale watching boat to the Staten Island ferries to Offshore and deep sea will flick your Amurcan butt overboard and replace you with a Filipino, Bulgarian or whoever signs up under a 12 month contract with no benefits beyond vacation pay and a ticket home. Yeah - I know. Sounds harsh. I worked a few years running a foreign flag operation (outside US market) and we didnā€™t staff with Americans in general but did have the odd Master or Chief from US.

Just fact from being there doing it, not seditious spin.

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The only means the Democrats have to stop a repeal of the Jones Act is still having the filibuster in the Senateā€¦until either the Republicans in the Senate do away with it or the Supreme Court declares it unconstitutional then forget itā€¦it will be dead and buried despite all the screaming from the unions, JA operators or shipyards.

We are in for some very dark times ahead I am afraid.

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Iā€™m not saying the GOP or Trump are anti-Jones Act at this time.

Just that there are powerful interests that definitely are. Their voices are loud and persistent and well funded. They are more than a match for the remaining US Flag promoters, who can barely grease a palm let alone organize 50 million. So we will see.

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Pay careful attention to what Trump does not what he says

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Generally speaking he does some form of what he says. In his previous iteration he had people providing some guard rails. We can only wait to see what happens when he takes office.
The Federal mandated minimum wage in the USA is $7.25/hour . Trump and Biden/Harris had 8 years to raise it but did nothing. That says a lot about how both parties feel about workers. In 2023 the average CEO made over 300 times what the average worker made. in 1970 the average CEO made 24 times the average worker pay. It remains to be seen which America gets made great again.

i

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Exactly, thats why I very quickly did a Google search & found 4 easy examples of what Trump did to support the US maritime trade. The deal about new training ships for the state schools & increasing the Navy fleet were no brainers. Why did we have to get that crazy azz Trump in office for those obvious maritime needs? But he did it. So not only watch what he does, not what he says, pretty much disregard his political opponents who make accusations with no facts whatsoever imo. Nobody likes that dang Project 2025 except for people who dislike Trump because they pretend to have a valid talking point.

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What did any of those have to do with preserving the Jones Act?

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Why have new training ships to train new mariners to work on Johns Act vessels if the long game from 2017 was actually to get rid of the Jones Act?

Who exactly was supposed to supply that larger Navy fleet that Trump signed into low? Chinese & African FOC ships?

Trump is a blabber mouth. He can set down with Joe Rogan at a drop of a hat, with no teleprompter or que cards & not shut up for 3 hrs straight. Any intelligent, observant person knows if Trump wanted to get rid of the JA he would have said it & done it by now.

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Apparently no one because they canā€™t anyone to man the MSC ships because itā€™s a cluster fuck of an operation. If he can fix that shit show Iā€™ll pledge allegiance to the orange man.

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I do not foresee any big changes to the Jones Act.

Too many domestic boatbuilders and owners have too many Congressmen in almost every state.

Deep sea does not matter. Itā€™s too small at only around 100 ships, many of which were foreign built.

I do foresee people like Elon Musk pushing for big changes to immigration. We simply need more skilled workers that willing to get their hands dirty doing actual work.

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Project 2025 at this point seems to be Qanon for the left.

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Then why did Trumpā€™s people draft it if they donā€™t like it?

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Biden only had two years where this was possible and they attempted to and failed.

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Wrong, game over. The Heritage Foundation were/are old school Bush/McCain/Chaney/Romney supporters & only superficially supported Trump when all other Republicans lost & dropped out. The architects of the Second Invasion of Iraq like Cheney & the Bushs all voted for Harris & not Trump. Romney, Mrs. McCain & klan voted for Harris. Its all public info. The old school Heritage Foundation that has been around for 50+ years love those established, legacy Republicans & barely tolerate the circus performer Trump. It would be like an enemy of yours spray painting ā€œCapt_Phoenix Rules!!ā€ on the front of the police station then claiming they did it for you. Of the hundreds of conservatives that I know not a single one has ever said a they liked Project 2025 & you dont know any either. Iā€™m pretty sure the only people who like Project 2025 are liberals (including you) & never-Trumpers who canā€™t refrence a single Republican outside of the HF who thinks its a good idea. Its completely made up by Trump haters & only talked about by people who realize Trump is invincible so theyā€™ll say or do anything hoping it might work against him. Project 2025 failed just like blackmail, threats, impeachments, civil & criminal cases & bullets. You guys will need to come up with something else, maybe try kryptonite?

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Are you willfully ignorant or just that uninformed while spouting off at the mouth like you know anything? Look at the names of the authors of Project 2025 and where they do or did work. The majority of them either used to or currently do work in the Trump administration/campaign.

Loves Trump and Trump loves them back.
This was in 2022.

Well, thatā€™s what they just voted for whether they realize it or not.

Wow are you ever delusional. The authors are a whoā€™s who of rabid Trump sycophants.

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