During a speech at a shipyard in Wisconsin this week, President Donald Trump delivered a line that sounded like a confession: that his administration is corruptly using federal funds to boost his re-election campaign.
The president’s startling admission came as he briefly veered off-script, telling employees of Fincantieri Marinette Marine, the firm chosen by the Navy on April 30 to build 10 new guided-missile frigates for its FFG(X) program, that “one of the big factors” in the Navy awarding a $5.5 billion contract to their firm was, “your location in Wisconsin, if you want to know the truth.”
The Wisconsin firm was chosen over rivals that build ships in Alabama, Mississippi and Maine — three states that are far less important in the electoral college.
In his speech, which he frequently delivered as if he was at a campaign rally rather than an official appearance, the president boasted that the “massive deal” would boost employment in the state, which he won by less than 23,000 votes in 2016.
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He also devoted some time to praise himself, claiming that he had personally intervened in the design of the new Navy frigate.
“The ships that they were building, they looked terrible. I changed designs. I looked at it. I said, ‘That’s a terrible looking ship. Let’s make it beautiful. It’ll cost you the same, and maybe less,’” the president told workers at the shipyard.
Watch the video below. Trump’s admission comes at the 1:10 mark.
