Donald Trump vows to replace Brent Spence Bridge
WILMINGTON — Donald Trump on Friday committed himself to solving one of Greater Cincinnati’s thorniest transportation problems if he is elected president.
Its name: “The Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati, which is critical to the region” said Trump at a rally in Wilmington.
The Republican candidate was vague about his plan to pay to replace the bridge, except to suggest he would withhold money pledged to the United Nations.
The frequently clogged bridge across the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Kentucky is ranked as one of the most vital interstate bridges in need of an upgrade.
Solutions have included a rebuilt bridge possibly paid for by tolls, and a bypass, none of which have earned broad support.
Trump proposed canceling “billions of dollars in global payment to the United Nations” to pay for replacing the bridge. While it’s not clear to what payments he’s referring, he could be describing U.S. pledges to the United Nations Green Energy Fund, the right-leaning Daily Caller news site has speculated. One problem: The US has contributed only $500 million to the fund, part of a $3 billion pledge – not $20 billion.
Trump has recently taken to referring to the payments and then catering to the local crowds by describing nearby infrastructure projects that need repair.
In Ohio, Trump also suggested fixing Interstate 71, which runs through Cincinnati past Wilmington, but he didn’t like how little the crowd applauded the idea.
“You’re not thrilled by it. Let’s not do it, to hell with it,” he said, jokingly. “Let’s save the money.”
Trump’s off-the-cuff solution to decide which infrastructure project to fund: a rally to ask the public’s opinion.
“We should do that: Before we do a project, have a big rally,” he proposed, then shifted into his imagined dialog with the crowd. “How do you like doing the interstate? People go, ‘uhhh.’ How do you like doing the bridge? ‘Oh, we love it.’
‘It’s not a bad way, actually.”
Trump is in Ohio four days before Election Day, making his final arguments to voters in a state that polls say is narrowly leaning his way. A rolling average of state polls says Trump is beating Democrat Hillary Clinton by about 3 percentage points.
Trump landed at the Wilmington airport sporting a red tie and strode up to a raised platform in an airplane hangar full of cheering supporters.
He swung quickly into his usual stump speech, decrying Obamacare and characterizing the FBI investigation into classified emails on Clinton’s private email server as something likely to entrap Clinton in a perjury charge. His trade policies would restore jobs to Ohio, he said. The Ohio unemployment rate was at 4.8 percent in September, the most recent data available and on par with the national rate for October.
“We’ll stop the jobs from leaving Ohio,” he said. “We’ll stop the jobs like never before.”
Trump returned again and again to the perils of a Clinton presidency if she beats him on Election Day.
“Hillary and her corrupt friends would rob this country blind,” he said.