Gary, Indiana should be a boomtown. It sits on the busiest highway in the United States, half an hour’s drive from downtown Chicago. It’s the birthplace of Michael Jackson, a gift for any tourism office, and its state laws allow gambling — normally a goldmine in itself.
But Gary is not booming. It’s a downbeat, gloomy place. Derelict buildings line a long main street, telling a story of decline and missed opportunities.
Donald Trump saw potential here. Back in 1993 he swept into town with an impressive sales pitch. He told officials he would make Gary “the Hollywood of the Mid-West” — open a casino, renovate the main hotel, bring celebrities to town and host the world’s biggest boxing bouts. People were impressed. A few years later, Mr Trump had come and gone. He’d made money from his casino, but the other promises remained unfulfilled. Many people here see it as a barometer for the presidency to come.
Mr Trump campaigned on a promise to bring the boom times back to America’s rustbelt and the region is relying on him to come good on his word. In Indianapolis, a couple of hours’ drive from Gary, workers at the Carrier air conditioning plant see him as a hero.
Their jobs were due to be cut as production moved to Mexico, but then the president-elect visited. “He’s proving he’s looking out for the American people,” Julie Meadows said, her job safe. Most of her colleagues feel the same.
But Chuck Jones, who runs the steelworkers’ union here, said: “He’s spent millions preventing staff from forming unions at hotels and casinos he owns, he moved a lot of his work abroad, so do I think he really cares about the average American worker? No, I don’t.”
It’s the Trump enigma: salesman or saviour? We’re about to find out.
- Martin Geissler is a correspondent for ITV News.
