On the day the GDP data was published, the President of the United States scheduled an event with unions in Springfield, on the outskirts of Washington, in Virginia. There he made a presentation of economic protectionism and dismissed international complaints (among them European ones) of his protectionism: “To hell with that,” he said, later laughing.

It was an environment conducive to a nationalist message to unionized industrial workers. “Where is it written that the United States cannot return to being the world leader in manufacturing? Where is it written? I don’t know where it is written. That would not be off the mark,” said the president.

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