Trump’s Manufacturing Promise Meets Factory Closure in Ohio

The Conn Selmer plant in Eastlake, Ohio—an off-shoot of Steinway Musical Instruments—shut its doors for the last time at the end of June. The facility, housed in a 61-year-old building, employed about 150 workers when it closed, ending a local manufacturing presence that had been highlighted by President Donald Trump as evidence of a national “manufacturing renaissance.”

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President Trump has repeatedly pledged an “economic revival” centered on reviving U.S. manufacturing, touting tariffs and trade policies as tools to keep jobs onshore. The closure occurs amid broader criticism that his administration’s tariff strategy has been “haphazard and disastrous,” with analysts linking it to a net loss of roughly 75,000 manufacturing jobs during his second term. The plant’s ownership traces back to billionaire hedge-fund manager John Paulson, a vocal Trump supporter who acquired Steinway in 2013 and has praised the president’s tariff plans as protective of American jobs.

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• Workforce at closure: ~150 employees

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• Sector job change: ~-75,000 manufacturing jobs lost in the second Trump term (as reported in the commentary)

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• Ownership: Subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments, part of Paulson’s portfolio since 2013

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• In 2020, Trump told workers at an appliance factory, “All of those bad things that you had to suffer with, you’re not suffering anymore, because now people and companies have an incentive to stay.”

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