President Trump touts energy industry at ninth annual Shale Insight Conference in Pittsburgh

WRDL Feature News Reporter Steve Shrenkel

(Photo courtesy of Steve Shrenkel/WRDLFM.com)

PITTSBURGH – President Donald Trump visited Pittsburgh last Wednesday afternoon to give his keynote address in front of nearly 2,000 people on the energy industry at the ninth annual Shale Insight Conference in the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Prior to Trump arriving for his speech, police in riot gear had to arrest 14 protestors near Point State Park for blocking off a ramp from the Fort Pitt bridge.

The room where the President spoke was filled with conference attendees as well as members of the public who could be seen wearing “Make America Great Again” hats and holding signs in support of Trump.

Trump praised the growth that the energy industry has experienced in Southwestern Pennsylvania while also speaking about natural-gas drilling.

The huge gains in the energy sector has been due to his administration who have allowed drilling on federal lands, he said.

“Oil production on federal land is at an all-time high and energy revenue for the American taxpayer has nearly doubled since I took office,” Trump said.

The President also claimed that he had made good on his promises back in 2016 as a presidential candidate that he gave to that same crowd in Pittsburgh.

“You’re much happier than when I was here three years ago, you’re much happier now,” he said. “And you’re much wealthier, and you’re providing a lot more energy than you used to, that’s for sure.”

Trump said that his administration “ended the war on energy” and that he has helped to make the U.S. the “greatest energy superpower in the history of the world.”

At one point, a small protest broke out during his speech in the back of the room.

Jewish protesters began chanting “Trump endangers Jews” while holding up banners of the exact same phrase to a chorus of boos from other members of the audience.

Security eventually removed the protestors out of the building.

Trump addressed the protestors by telling them to “Go home to mom” to a smattering of laughter and applause.

The President touched upon his decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords environmental agreement, a global agreement focused on climate change.

“I was elected to serve the people of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” Trump said to a standing ovation.

He also made sure to mention his continued talking point of building a border wall.

“We’re building a wall on the border of Mexico and we’re building a wall around Colorado,” he said. “We’re building a beautiful wall, a big one that really works that you can’t get over, can’t get under.”

Trump did go on the attack against the “do-nothing Democrats” while also taking a shot at Utah Senator Mitt Romney, mentioning how they have less division than Republicans.

“They stick together and their vicious,” Trump said of the Democrats. “Their policies are horrible with their open borders, sanctuary cities and they want to take everyone’s guns away. They don’t have a Mitt Romney. We’ve got to stick together.”

Trump got another standing ovation after saying that those who work in the energy industry are the ones who are continuing to make America great.

“You are the ones who are rebuilding our nation,” he said. “You are the ones who are restoring our strength. You are the ones who are renewing our spirit and you are the ones who are continuing to make America greater than it ever was before.”

Trump said his next goal is to bring 100,000 new energy jobs to the Appalachian region.

The President concluded his speech by saying that America is back to winning.

“America is winning, winning, winning once again,” Trump said.